Saved By The Music
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: Glee is just a bit too overly cliched sometimes. So, this is my take on the series making it a little more realistic. Rachel Berry has one best friend and that best friend is Mike Chang. Noah Puckerman makes every day miserable for her, but that's only because he's crazy about her. She's crazy about him, too, but they're too afraid to admit their feelings for one another.
1. Chapter 1

**Saved By The Music  
A Glee AU Fan Fiction  
Chapter 1: Meet The Gleeks_  
_**

_**A/N: So my friends who are also Gleeks and I have decided that there is no more thunder in the world. It is just Cory, drumming up in Heaven. **_

There were six members of the Glee Club at McKinley High School, run by Sandy Ryerson, an overly flamboyant predatory gay who wore brightly colored pastel sweaters swung over his golfer polo shirt that was a slightly lighter shade of the sweater with matching pants.

There was Kurt Hummel, yet another flamboyantly gay member of the club who was a sophomore and the only male soprano the school had. Kurt was well known for wearing outfits that would be perfect for Fashion Week in Paris or New York or Milan or even Tokyo. Another thing he was known for was being tossed into the dumpsters by the football team and complaining about how they were ruining his brand new, top of the line, fresh season Marc Jacobs Collection jacket or something along those lines.

The girl who was always at Kurt's side was Mercedes Jones, who was his cliched strong, independent black woman best friend to his gay male. Mercedes was known for her loud voice that could belt out rhythm and blues songs as well as Whitney Houston and better than Beyonce. She also wore clothes that were just as loud as her voice.

Tina Cohen-Chang was the awkward third wheel among them, a brilliant and overly cliche-d Asian teenage with a twist to the stereotype. With her electric blue streaks running through her glossy black locks and her full black mini skirts with a lacy tutu attached and thick black stockings underneath and knee high combat boots, a black vest over a frumpy white blouse, she was the classic gothic, and it was a known fact that the principal of the school-Figgins, as all the students and teachers referred to him as-believed her to be a vampire, which was why she was never in trouble when her temper got the best of her.

Then there was Artie Abrams, the AV-geek in his wheelchair, the same way he had been since he was eight years old. With his suspenders and fingerless racer-gloves, he brought a new trend to the nerdy-chic look, however, and he talked like a white-boy-wanna-be rapped with a bit more rhythm than usual. He was like a scrawny and nerdy version of Eninem.

Hank Saunders was in the club, but nobody knew much about him as he didn't talk to any of the other members. Nobody was sure why he was there, but his vocals were enough for them to not really question it too much.

And then there was Rachel Berry, the star of the club, even if the others refused to admit it aloud anywhere other than their immediate circle. With her overbearing and melodramatic personality, she was a bit hard to take and her ambition always brought the others more pain than she probably meant to inflict on them, as she was always fighting for solos and trying to 'help' the others get better. And while her advice was honest and truly helpful, the others did not want to accept that she was honestly looking out for their best interest.

Which was why Rachel had no friends in the Gee Club. Honestly, she didn't have any friends at all, except for the football player that was Mike Chang.

He was number 22 and he was a safety. He was one of the only other asians in the school, besides Tina, and he was absolutely gorgeous which meant every girl in school was jealous of the way he seemed to only have eyes for Rachel, doing everything in his power to try and keep her happy and make sure she felt safe at all times.

Because the other football players? They lived to make Rachel's life miserable.

Noah Puckerman greeted her every morning with a slushy facial while Finn Hudson snickered about her with the rest of the team whenever she walked by. Azimio Adams was another one who was constantly tossing a slushy in her face, but he was most well known for the sexual comments he made towards her.

The only member of the football team, besides Mike, who was ever anything even close to friendly with her was Matt Rutherford who was too quiet and sweet to ever be cruel to anybody. Besides, he was best friends with Mike so the other safety couldn't really do much to hurt her feelings, without Mike turning around and punching him in the face.

Of course, the cheerleaders at the school weren't any better towards her.

Santana Lopez, Puck's sexy Latino of a girlfriend who was easiest the baddest bitch in the school, had come up with the surprisingly clever nicknames of Rupaul and Man-hands to further ruin Rachel's high school experience.

Brittany Pierce, the blonde who was constantly flirting with Mike, was too naive and innocent to ever be a bully in herself, but she'd join in with her friends' taunting without ever trying to stand up to them and defend the tiny brunette. Which was why Mike always brushed off her flirtations, forgetting about how hot she happened to be.

And then there was Quinn Fabray, president of the celibacy club and captain of the Cheerio's. The blonde haired, future prom-queen, sophomore beauty queen that was dating Finn Hudson, the star quarterback. She was probably the won who had come up with the rude nicknames, as she was smarter than her two best friends, but she was also clever enough to allow Santana to be the first one to use them aloud. Quinn was a devious, bitter and jealous individual who seemed to always have something new to hate Rachel for.

Of course, it wasn't just Rachel who was bullied by the popular kids.

All of the Glee Club had to deal with the harassment and the slushy facials. They all faced the rude names and they were all mocked, especially Artie and Kurt, for being in something as lame as the Glee Club.

But that didn't stop the glee kids from wanting to kill Rachel when she went to Principal Figgins to report Sandy's inappropriate touching when he was working with Hank on a solo-a solo that even Mercedes had to admit belonged to Rachel.

So, with their advisor gone and nobody left to direct the club, the entire group was disbanded and the four members who honestly cared about the club blamed Rachel, with was a fair blame as it was her fault. But it wasn't as if she had wanted there to be an end to the cub. She did love Glee, but she usually let her ambition get the best of her.

* * *

"I can't believe that skinny, gar-animal wearing ass kisser," Mercedes Jones said in a loud whisper as she walked past Rachel Berry, who's back was to the students passing in the hallway as she went through her locker, sorting through her books.

"Annoying, self righteous Lima Rachel on steroids," Kurt agreed with his best as he passed by.

Rachel sighed, slamming her locker shut and turning around and leaning against her locker, clutching her books to her chest as she watched the pair walk on, smirking over their shoulders at her, knowing that she had not only heard what they had said, but was hurt by the rude-and clever-insults they had aimed at her like a dagger through the heart.

"Don't let them get to you," Mike Chang said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as her appeared by her side, a hard line forming across his mouth as he narrowed his dark brown eyes at the passing by best friends, shaking his head in disgust. "They're just jealous of your talent and that you were smart enough and brave enough to do the right thing. Sandy deserved to get reported for what he had done, okay? I told you a million times before you even went to Figgins that you were doing the right thing," Mike said.

"It's not just them, Michael," She sighed, leaning against him comfortable. "It's Noah and Finn and Azimio and that new kid-David whatever his last name is...the one on the hockey team?" Rachel said, turning towards him and looking up at the six foot, dark haired football player who was wearing his red and white letterman jacket with straight leg jeans and converse.

"Karofsky? Did he do something to you?" Mike asked, placing his hands on her shoulder and locking eyes with her intently.

"Just the usual. The same as what Noah and Azimio do to me every day. It was just a slushy...a blueberry slushy, to be particular and you know how I feel about those, but, it was just a harmless-"

"It's not harmless, Rach," he rolled his eyes, swinging an arm back around her shoulders as he started to walk with her towards the exit to the school. "It's bullying and I can't believe the administration isn't doing anything to stop it, because it's getting out of hand." He shook his head in disgust.

The thing about Mike was that he hated seeing people bullied. Which was why Matt was his only true friend out of the members of the football team. He couldn't deal with people who only found fun in bringing other's done. It wasn't his thing and he found it disgusting that the bullying at his own school had been going on for so long and in such a horrible fashion. It wasn't just name calling-the attacks were physical and an action that teachers could see happening and the effects of it.

There was more than just the slushy facials. Kurt was slammed into lockers. Artie was locked in port a potties that they tilted to the side and knocked over. They were both given wedgies-and Artie was usually given some sort of a patriotic wedgie.

It bothered Mike whenever it happened and he was around to see it. He hated it even when he merely had to hear the attacks.

But when they happened to Rachel and he was around to see it? Or even worse, when he wasn't there to see what was happening-that was the worse, because it meant he could have done something to try and stop it. It meant that he had failed as her best friend, because he had let her down. He had disappointed her.

And if there was one thing Mike didn't want to ever do to Rachel, it was let her down.

He liked the way she looked at him as if he were her knight in shining armor. He appreciated that she thought he should be the most popular guy in school. And he kind of liked the smile she gave him every time he managed to stop a bullying attack right before it happened. It made him feel like a hero.

"Michael, seriously, just let it go, okay?" Rachel sighed.

"Tell me next time it happens, and I want to know exactly who did it. Because next time, they aren't getting a get out of jail free card," He replied, his voice bitter and full of venom.

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked up at him with one of those looks she had perfected in their years of friendship. The kind of look that could make him shut up and stop going on about whatever it was she didn't want to hear about anymore. Honestly, Rachel's angry looks were scary enough to get the desired reaction and when she was sad, the looks were a real tear-jerker, no matter what Mike wanted to argue on the subject.

"Do you need a ride home?" He asked suddenly, looking down at her with a slightly different expression on his face as he studied her.

"I do...but you have practice, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, and you have Glee. I thought we had this whole thing done to a routine by now, Rach," He teased her with that lovable grin.

"Glee's cancelled until we get a new director. I'll just call my dads and-"

"Rach, just come and watch practice, okay?" Mike chuckled, cutting her off and laughing at her pout at being interrupted. He knew how she felt about that, and he did it every time he could just to get that reaction out of her. "But you have to go and grab a bite to eat with me afterwards, okay? I get hungry after practice," He winked as they neared the boys' locker room.

"Michael, I'm going to look like a creepy stalker girl if I wait out here for you and then follow you to practice!" Rachel stomped her foot as he released her and went to walk inside.

"And I'm going to look like the luckiest guy in the school for having a hot girl like you stalking me," He winked at her as he disappeared inside.

She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, leaning against the wall next to the door. She looked down at her olive green tee shirt, cashmere swoop neck sweater, grabbing at her gold Star of David necklace and toying with the pendant.

There were three Jewish students at McKinley and there was only one other in Rachel's grade. He also happened to be her biggest tormentor-one Noah Puckerman. And she only knew that he was a Jew because she saw his mother and younger sister at Temple every week, and on occasion she would see him get dragged in by his mother before rushing out as soon as it was over.

Releasing the necklace, she smoothed out her suede, dark chocolate colored pencil mini skirt that ended mid-thigh, paired with matching green flats and a green and brown plaid headband, in her usual style that was yet another reason Santana, Quinn, Puck, Brittany, and all the other football players made fun of her.

And she knew that that was one way she could make herself a little more popular. She knew that she had the control over how she dressed, but she was comfortable in her clothes and if she was going to be attacked by a slushy, why would she get dressed up for school so that she was wearing her best clothes? If it wasn't for the fact she had grabbed her clothes without thinking that day for what she'd change into, she never would have brought that skirt.

It was too expensive, too nice, and made of too nice a material. Besides, it looked amazing on her and she would hate to see a skirt like that put to waste when football team ruined it with a slushy or the cheerleaders insulted it so that she would hate wearing it, despite the fact that Mike was constantly telling her how sexy the skirt looked on her, causing her to erupt into giggles the same way she did every time Mike tried to compliment her on how she looked.

She rolled her eyes, shaking off her thoughts on what people did to ruin her life, and resumed to playing with her necklace until Mike came back to escort her onto the field.

"Hey-what are you doing out here?"

She jumped at the voice which was all too familiar to her, dropping her chain and looking up at the six foot tall, burly football player who was made up of all muscle and nothing else, a mohawk ruining what would be beautiful, dark chocolate colored curls, his hazel eyes locked on her legs as he spoke, pausing at the locker room door to study her.

"I'm...I'm waiting for Michael-he's my ride home and since he has practice he said I could stay and watch," She said, struggling to gain her confidence back, something that Noah Puckerman always managed to steal from her.

"Michael? Who the hell is-wait, Mike? Are you talking about Mike Chang? Wait a second...Berry? What the fuck are you doing outside the locker room and when the fuck did you turn into a girl who looked like that?" He asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked up to meet her own death-by-chocolate colored eyes.

She gulped, her confidence instantly shattering as she realized their careless conversation that had been going on was only because he hadn't realized that she was Rachel Berry, and had assumed she was just another good looking high school female.

"I told you-I'm waiting for Michael to finish changing because he is my ride home and I'm watching him practice today, as I have nothing better to do until he can bring me home." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she did some of the best acting she had ever done in her entire life.

If she was being one hundred percent honest, she would have to admit that she had a crush on Noah Puckerman.

She knew it was completely unrealistic, since he was the popular athlete and she was just the nerdy girl that nobody noticed. She didn't get asked out on dates and she didn't get boyfriends. The closest she came were her times with Mike.

Still there was a part of her that hoped and prayed that one day Puck would see past her Queen of the Gleeks exterior and ask her out, especially since that would be the best way to stop the bullying she constantly had to deal with.

It wasn't like Mike wasn't good enough for her. He did a wonderful job when it came to protecting her, but sometimes it just wasn't enough. He didn't have the power to take on the entire football team, the way that Puck would be able to. And nobody listened to him the way they would listen to Puck.

Besides, there was something in Rachel that made her want to help to fix Puck and turn him into a better person. She wanted to get past the bad boy exterior he acted like he was so proud of and bring out the sweet boy who opened the door for his mother when he was going to Temple-he acted like he was forced, but Rachel saw him praying and how his eyes sparkled at the service. Rachel longed to help Puck and turn him into a better person-the type of person she believed he could be, if he'd only give it a chance.

"Huh," He ran a hand through his mohawk as he walked away from the door, taking a step towards her. "You and Chang a thing now?" He wondered, raising his eyebrow in that sexy way he managed to do.

"Michael and I a...a thing? Do you mean like a couple? Because that's not true. We are merely best friends," Rachel said with a slight giggle to her voice as she stared up at the boy, as he was six feet tall while she was only five foot three. There was quite a height difference between the pair and she was well aware of it, just as she was with the height difference between herself and everybody else at the school, being one of the shortest girls in the entire high school.

"He's been friends with you since kindergarten and he hasn't tried to tap that yet?" He asked, turning his head for a better view at her ass. She rolled her eyes at his vulgarity. "Maybe the other guys are right about him being gay," Puck shrugged.

"What is that supposed to mean? Just because Michael is capable of being friends with a female while the rest of you only see girls as sexual fantasies come to life meant to provide you with entertainment and a stress reliever to control your lustful hormones doesn't mean that no other male is capable of being friends with a girl without being interested in a person of the same gender." She said rudely, crossing her arms over her chest as she narrowed her eyes at him.

She was well aware that it was risky to be talking to him that way and that she was more than likely to get more than the usual 'good morning' slushy facial the next day, but she didn't care.

Coming from a family with two fathers who were happily married and in love with one another made her much less of a bigot than the rest of the people in her small town and she absolutely despised homophobic people, especially when they were from the younger generation. Besides, assuming that somebody was gay merely because they were friends with a girl just showed how empty minded and shallow headed people, especially males, could be.

It was utterly ridiculous for the other boys on the football team to assume that Mike was gay merely because he was a virgin and was not attracted to his best friend merely because of the fact that she was a female. Mike was a good guy and he thought of Rachel as a little sister, so it would be strange if he wanted to sleep with her just to stop the other guys from talking.

Besides, he didn't care what they had to say about him. He just brushed off their comments and eventually they stopped making them. Even if Mike didn't consider his team as friends and was rarely with them outside of school, it didn't mean they didn't think of him as one of them. Especially with his talent when it came to the sport.

"I'm just saying, if I was friends with a girl like you, I wouldn't be waiting around for some other guy to win her over. I'd be all over getting with you," Puck said, moving in closer to her.

She bit back on her bottom lip to hide the smile she was fighting, because Puck had just called her attractive.

And she was sure that he didn't mean it. He was trying to bother her. He was trying to get to her and she wasn't going to let him know it was working. And besides, he was using it as a way to insult Mike, and Rachel was not going to allow that to happen. She was just going to make the best of things until he was done or Mike came to save her, whichever came first.

"If I got the chance to hang out with you all of the time, I wouldn't let those opportunities go to waste. I'd be spending each and every second making sure you realized how-"

"What's going on out here?" Mike's voice cut through Puck's husky voice as he moved in closer to Rachel.

"I'm just having some fun with your girl-she said you two weren't anything special," Puck said with that lazy smirk as he looked at Mike from over his shoulder, one hand on the wall besides Rachel on the wall and the other down by her waist, still with the palm flat against the wall as he started to turn his teasing onto Mike.

"Get away from her, _now," _Mike said, his eyes and voice equally dark as he clenched his hands into tight fists.

"Sorry," Puck said, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender as he faced Mike full on now. "I didn't realize there was something going on between you two. Not after she said you were just friends," He said sarcastically, lowering his hands and pushing past Mike, making his way into the locker room, after flashing a quick wink to Rachel.

"Did he try something with you? Did he hurt you?" Mike asked, moving in towards Rachel and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"He called you gay because you never tried anything with me, Michael," She whispered, wrapping her own arms around him to return the hug, snuggling up against his strong chest, the one place she always felt safe that wasn't up on stage. "He doesn't seem to understand that you just don't find me attractive that way," She sighed.

"Rach, don't be so stupid," Mike rolled his eyes, pushing her slightly away so he could look down at her and meet her eyes. "I'd _have_ to be gay if I didn't realize how hot you were. Puck's just mad at me because I told him to back off of you and...I just told him that he needed to back off," He said, shaking his head.

"Wait-you told him to back off and he acted like that? I don't get it. You've told him to back off a million times before and he's never acted that way. I don't understand," Rachel asked, lowering her head and giving that confused frown she always gave him when he was confusing her, arms crossed over her chest.

"He was making some rude comments about you, okay? And when I told him he shouldn't disrespect you that way, he got pissed off. I should have known he was going to do something stupid like that to get to me," Mike replied, lifting a hand and reaching up to slap himself in the head. "I'm such an idiot-I shouldn't be leaving you anywhere on your own, especially someplace I know he could actually find you," He sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they started making their way towards the football field.

"Michael, you can't blame yourself for how he acts. He's nothing more than a jerk," She sighed, trying not to let him see her disappointment.

After all, it shouldn't surprise her that Puck didn't really mean any of what had happened. He just wanted to bother Mike for standing up to him, something he was constantly doing to people who tried to defend themselves or others. It didn't mean anything and Rachel would do best to just forget about it and let it go.

Still, a part of her was curious as to what kind of comments Puck had been making that could bring Mike to tell him to lay off and deserve this kind of a reaction from him to get back at Puck.

"What exactly did he say?" Rachel wondered as they exited the school, side by side.

"He said that he was glad he started the slushy facials, because you looked good in a wet tee shirt, and he should probably start doing it more often to get a better peak. And then he got on about how your skirts are just the right length that he gets a view of your ass when you bend over or turn around really fast. And when the other guys started up on him about checking you out, he started to talk about how he'd want to sleep with you because he thought virgins were sexy, and he's love to be the one to 'pop Berry's Cherry', in his own words," Mike said reluctantly and Rachel knew that each word he got out hurt him.

As he spoke, Rachel's heart broke even more, because it showed that she wasn't anything more to Puck, and if anything were to happen between them, it was just another attempt to further her humiliation.

She should have expected it, of course, as a guy who was with Santana Lopez wouldn't need her in his life and wouldn't even want her, even if it was just for something extra on the side. Santana was more than enough for any guy, she was sure, and from what she had heard, she was highly possessive of what she considered hers. And when it came to Noah Puckerman, he was hers.

So, Rachel should consider herself lucky that Puck wasn't seriously interested in her, because that meant she didn't have to deal with the cruelties that she was sure would come along with Santana Lopez finding out about that particular piece of gossip.

Of course, just one person saying the wrong thing to Santana about what had happened between the two of them in the hallway would lead to the same problem, because Santana would love another reason to scare Rachel into a quivering fit of loser that would only add to the ridicule she received from the rest of the school. Luckily, Rachel was sure nobody had been around to see the scene between her and her tormentor that she couldn't help but find just the tiniest bit sexy.

Not that she would ever admit it aloud.

The only person she even had to tell about her crush was Mike, and she knew how he would react to that particular piece of news. He would be angry and he would start a long rant about all the negative things that would come from her and Puck, reminding her constantly that there wasn't a single positive thing that could come out of a relationship, because all Puck would do was hurt her, which was proven by how he had treated any other girl he had ever been with.

She knew how Mike felt towards Puck and she knew that while, for a while, they had been friends of a sort, that friendship was over and it was never coming back again due to something that had happened between the pair that neither ever mentioned.

* * *

The thing about Mike Chang that Noah Puckerman really couldn't stand was how close he was with Rachel Berry.

Yeah, it might sound weird, that the popular football player was interested in the nerdy loser girl, but it was a little bit cliched and Puck knew that their relationship was a typical high school stereotype-the school's bad boy with the good girl?

So, Puck had a crush on Rachel. What was the big deal, really? He was 'dating' Santana, if anybody asked the Latino, but in Puck's eyes, they just slept together when they needed a late night booty call because they were in the mood for a good time. They weren't anything serious, and nobody could expect Puck to settle down with just one girl.

Except for Rachel.

She could ask him to do anything and he would do it in a heartbeat. He would do anything if he thought it would make her smile, because her smile was known to drive him crazy, and he loved seeing it on the rare occasion it was present on her face when he was around her. He didn't see it often and he cherished when he did get to see it.

And maybe that didn't make any sense when one considered the way he was constantly bullying her, but he couldn't very well go around acting as if he were interested in her after she had rejected him in front of the entire school at the very beginning of freshman year. It had taken him weeks to get over that loss and just as long to finally make everybody forget that he had ever shown an interest in her at all, to stop the taunting that he couldn't get a date with Rachel Berry.

So, whenever he was careless and slipped up about a sexual remark about Rachel, he ended up making it worse so he sounded like a bigger dick so he didn't have to deal with what the football team around have to say about it. And that just made Mike threaten him to stay away from Rachel because if she got hurt, Mike was going to have to hurt whoever had done it twice as badly as she was hurt.

After all, Rachel was the reason he and Mike were no longer friends.

Back in the eighth grade, they had been almost best friends, and would have been if it hadn't been for Rachel already holding that place in Mike's heart.

When Puck had told Mike that he had feelings towards Rachel, Mike had looked him dead in the eyes and let him know that Rachel belonged to him and nobody else was allowed to have her. And when Puck said they could just let Rachel decide, Mike had threatened that if Puck ever asked the girl out, he would live to regret it.

They stopped speaking after that day, and by the time freshman year rolled around, Puck confidently strolled over to the brunette and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie that night, with Mike right there.

After the girl had flashed a questioning look at Mike who had given a slight shake of his head that only Rachel and Puck seemed to have noticed, she explained that she didn't think it would be a good idea, especially considering the fact that they barely even knew one another and had rarely even talked before that. In other words, Rachel Berry had turned down Noah Puckerman and no girl had ever turned Puck down before, making the girl with no friends and no other choices for a relationship, the first girl to reject him.

The next day, Puck had tossed a slushy in her face when she had approached him in an effort to talk to him about what had happened the previous day, trying to apologize and explain her reasoning.

Puck hadn't wanted to hear it, and that had resulted in his streak as her bully.

Still, every time Azimio made a comment about her body or tried to toss a slushy at her, he got a new bruise and a new story about how Puck had punched him, before Puck threatened him about going after what was his. And whenever Finn made some comment about her that Puck didn't like, he sat his best friend down and reminded him exactly why he hated her so much to make him remember he needed to stop. And then there was that new kid Karofsky that needed to learn a thing or two about how to respect the Puckerman Code. When Puck marked something as his, that meant it was his and nobody else could have anything to do with it.

At least, until Puck was done with it.

And Puck wasn't going to be done with Rachel Berry until he had had his chance with her. Which was going to be a very long time from now, if Mike Chang had anything to do with it.

Sometimes, Puck really hated that kid.

* * *

While Mike Chang hated when anybody was bullied, he especially despised it when Rachel was the one being picked on.

Because his girl didn't deserve that kind of treatment, and while she might argue that classifying her as such was not only sexist but also misleading as they weren't dating, he really didn't care because she was his girl.

The only reason they weren't going out was because she was too afraid of ruining their friendship and he was too nice to push her into something she didn't feel comfortable with.

And while he would deny it to anybody, he did have a crush on her.

And he wasn't denying it because he was ashamed of her. He was denying it so she wouldn't feel bad about breaking his heart every single time she reminded him that they were only friends.

Still, when he saw a football player making a comment about her appearance-whether it be a positive or negative comment, he didn't care-or saw a Cheerio bullying her, he stepped in and began his defense, because if he couldn't be her man, he was going to be her hero, as that was all she seemed to think of him as outside of a friend.

She had proven she thought as much when Puck had been hitting on her outside of the locker room that day. She had even told Puck, who she knew Mike hated, that they were just friends.

Now, Mike wasn't a stupid guy. He knew what was going on and he understood that Rachel had a crush on the idiot, but he had thought it was just one of her fantasies about him choosing her and allowing her a free pass into the land of popularity. Instead, he was forced with the awful truth.

Rachel didn't just have a hopeless crush on Puck because she was a hopeless dreamer who believed in a fairytale-worthy happily ever after. She had a crush on him because she wanted to change him and turn him into a better person.

And the thing that really bugged him about that was the fact that what she wanted to change Puck into was the guy that Mike already was. She wanted to take a guy who only wanted her for her body and to get her into bed and turn him into the guy that she already had waiting on her hand and foot, ready to do whatever it took to please her.

And that was why Mike Chang really hated Noah Puckerman sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Saved By The Music  
A Glee Au Fan Fiction  
Chapter 2: A New Direction**

_**A/N: I would like to explain my choices for this story a bit. My best guy friend and I both love GLEE with all of our hearts. While watching the episodes one day, we found it strange that Rachel didn't have a single friend at school because it was just so unrealistic. We got the idea that Puck should have been her character's best friend and trying to defend her, but as we are both Puckleberry fans we turned it into yet another cliche with him falling for her, meaning best friends falling in love. And since I knew Puck would fall for Rachel in this story, I decided on another character being her best friend. When sharing the idea with my other GLEE best friend, she suggested I use Mike, as it would be ironic if he didn't want the relationship while the actor who portrays him is a HUGE Puckleberry fan. So, that is how I got the idea to make Mike the best friend who just didn't want Rachel and Puck together. To create how Mike acted, I based him off of my best guy friend who is a bit like a brother to me, but people always accuse us of dating for how we act around one another. And while I am still having Rachel be her typical self about her talent and her vanity, I molded her friendship with Mike into one that is similar between mine and my guy best friend's friendship. And then her interactions with Puck and based loosely on how I acted towards a boy that had a crush on me who my best friend hated. The difference is going to be that Rachel does have feelings for him, so she's not quite as cruel as I allowed myself to be-I'm like a dog, I'm too loyal to my friends, but that's besides the point. Anyways, I just wanted to get that out in the open so people are aware of why my characters act the way I do (And it was fair of me to base the friendship off one of my own as most people in my school call me Rachel Berry because of my attitude) and where I got this plot from, because from my experience on the website, I find it to be very original of myself. But if you happen to know of any stories with a similar plot, please tell me about them, as I would love to read them. If you took the time to read this entire thing, thank you!**_

As Rachel Berry made her way down the hallway the next day at school, she paused for a second as she spotted the club sign-up bulletin board, spotting the newest sign that had been added there. One for the New Directions-a Glee club, that was to be run by Mr. Shuester, the Spanish teacher at he school, who wasn't that good of a Spanish teacher.

But from the history she had seen about the McKinley High School Glee club, she knew that Mr. Shuester would know what he was talking about when it came to the Glee Club, because he had been in one when he was in high school, and when he had been a member, they had not only been good, but they had gone to competitions and they had actually won, taking home trophy after trophy. So, in a way, Rachel had helped to make the club better, by getting Sandy fired.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked her with a careless chuckle, looking down at her.

They had just entered the school and were walking towards their lockers that were fairly close to one another due to the alphabet. When she had stopped, because he always walked with a careless arm around her shoulder, he had had no choice but to stop as well, unless he was willing to slap her in the back of his head with his strong, muscular arm, and Mike would never do anything to hurt Rachel, whether it be physical or mental or emotion. He cared about his best friend too much for that.

And as they'd stopped, he'd immediately changed his gaze to focus on her, taking in her wide-eyed, completely shocked reaction as she focused on the club bulletin board and the large smile taking over her face.

He loved that look on her face, because it meant she was not only excited and happy, she was about to get a new obsession-and for a girl as ambitious as Rachel, having something to focus all of her energy on was a good thing, and it meant Mike didn't have to listen to her complain non stop about the way Mercedes and Kurt were treating her due to getting Sandy fired-not that he minded listening to her, but sometimes he'd rather have a conversation where he was being talked to rather than talked at, just for a change.

"There's a new Glee club! Oh, Michael-Mr. Shuester is going to run the glee club, and that means they can't be mad at me anymore, especially since now we have a real director who knows what he's talking about!" She squealed in excitement, turning to face him, throwing her arms around his neck in an overly excited hug.

"That's great, Rach," He laughed, returning her hug.

He took that as an opportunity to get her out of the middle of the hallway and next to the wall so she wouldn't get run over by the other people walking around, due to her size and social status.

The popular kids, the football players and the cheerleaders-even the hockey platers...well, they were the students that people walked around when they stopped to talk in the hallway. If they were standing around the way Rachel had been, people would either turn and walk in the other direction or hug the wall to avoid bumping into them. When they would make their way down the hallway, crowds would part like the Red Sea, because nobody wanted to be disrespectful to high school royalty. People might go out of their way to avoid hitting Mike, but they would probably go out of they way to insure that they hit Rachel.

"Michael...do you think you'd want to sign up with me?" She asked him casually as he unwrapped her from the hug.

"Oh, don't do this Rach-I can't sing, you know that. You make fun of me every single time I try to sing along to the radio with you. Why would you want me in Glee club?" He asked, that goofy grin on his face.

"You're not bad, you just need some help. I would work with you to help you reach your full potential. Besides, you are an excellent dancer, and don't even try to deny you. Honestly, I don't see why you ever quit your classes. You're an excellent dancer, Michael, and you shouldn't pass that talent up. You'd get more scholarships for that than you would for playing football. Anybody can toss a football down the field or catch it while running backwards. Even _I _can do that and I'm the least athletic person we know. Dancing is something that's hard, and you're really good!" Rachel insisted.

"I'm busy with football, Rach, and you know how my parents get about my grades. I just can't add something else to my schedule and add in extra time working with you on top of that. Remember the last time I got an Asian F? My parents were about to ground me until they found out it was because I was up all night with you when you were crying about the first time Puck threw a slushy at you," Mike reminded her, shaking his head. "You sign up, and I'll be at every show, I promise," He assured her.

"Fine," She sighed, turning on her heel and approaching the sign, grabbing the pen that was attached to the sheet and scribbling her name across the line at the first open slot-which was actually the first slot there was. After she signed her name, she searched through her bag for her sheet of stickers and added a gold star to her name. She smirked at the finished product and the reminder that she was a star-because that was what the Gold Stars were for. They were a metaphor, and metaphors were important. They were a metaphor for her, being a star. When she turned to walk back to Mike, a cherry slushy hit her right in the face.

Before Rachel was even fully aware of who had tossed the slushy in her face, Mike was in motion, lunging at the football player and pushing him against the wall, using one arm to hold him in place, pressing the muscles against his throat as he glared at Noah Puckerman, eyes narrowed into slits as lifted his fist and brought it to Puck's cheek.

"What the hell did I tell you? Didn't I give you and every single other guy on the football team a long speech on the proper way to speak a girl, especially when the girl happened to be Rachel? Didn't I tell you to stop acting like such a dick and not slushy her anymore or make anymore inappropriate comments to her?" Mike asked in a low voice, his face contorted in rage as he albeit growled at the much brawnier male who was supposed to be his teammate.

"Michael, just let it go," Rachel said, making her way towards the two and placing a gentle hand on his arm, trying to calm him down.

"No, not this time Rachel," Mike said. "And take your hand off of me because you know that I'm going to calm down if you're touching me," He said, turning towards her slightly.

"Michael!" Rachel insisted.

"Rachel, I'm not letting him get away with this anymore. He's not going to treat you like a piece of shit any longer, because I'm not a fan of it. He needs to stop and he's going to learn a lesson."

"And you're going to teach it to him? Michael, if you get into a fight you are going to get suspended and then your grades are going to slip so that is two reasons why your parents will get upset with you, and they already threatened to make you quit football and you love playing. You are _not _giving that up for my honor, do you understand me?" She asked him, grabbing his forearm and yanking him back from Puck, not even sparing a glance at him.

"Shit, Rach, you're wearing fucking white. Come on, let's go get you cleaned up." Mike finally glanced down at her, shaking his head in disgust at her drenched hair and her now transparent shirt. He slipped out of his jacket and slipped it around her shoulders, placing a hand on the small of her back as she slipped her arms through the holes, guiding her towards the nearest bathroom.

As they walked away, Puck took a breath, slowing his breathing to calm himself down.

He had never seen Mike Chang that angry before, and that got him thinking-something that he rarely ever did.

After all, there was only one reason that Mike Chang would be defending Rachel Berry, wasn't there?

Sure, people could say it was because they were best friends and Mike didn't want his best friend getting hurt, but it was pretty obvious there was something more there that got him angry enough that he had tried to fight Puck. And it didn't take long for Puck to figure it out. Mike was in love with Rachel and he had a crush on her.

Well, that wasn't going to fly with Puck, because he had the same type of feelings towards the girl.

He walked towards the sign that Rachel had been at before he'd tossed the slushy in her face-god, sometimes he was an idiot-and rolled his eyes. A fucking glee club? A stupid show choir? How was he supposed to use that to help get him closer to Rachel?

God, he was turning into such a pussy.

Rachel Berry? He was thinking of ways to impress her and win her over?

It shouldn't be that hard for a guy like him-a popular, good looking, hot football player-to get a girl like Rachel, despite how hot she might be. Girls in high school were all worried about popularity, no matter what they said on the contrary.

Yet here he was, trying to think of a good way to help impress her so that they could bond over something. He was acting as if his only goal in life was to get with Rachel, and while it was pretty important for him to get a date with her, his major concern was to get the hell out of Lima, because he couldn't stand being there for another second.

Maybe that was his attraction to Rachel? Maybe, because he knew she was going to be getting out of Lima and that it wouldn't be that long before she forgot about her entire high school experience, except for the main highlights, he wanted to be with her because it would motivate him to get himself out of that town so he could keep her. Because losing a girl like Rachel would look ridiculous for a guy like him, but he had to realize that Rachel was actually too good for him and every other guy in Lima.

He sighed, tempted to actually turn back and sign up for the club-he actually did love music-but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. There was something in him that was telling him he would be a loser if he joined, and if there was one thing Noah Puckerman wasn't, it was a loser.

Well, maybe he was a Lima Loser, but he was going to prove everybody wrong about that particular detail.

Still, he wasn't going to go and join the glee club. He would be a joke-a complete and total laughing stock, and Puck didn't do that. He had never been a loser and he wasn't going to start being unpopular now. His popularity might only be made because of the fear factor he had, but he wasn't so sure it was enough to keep him popular if he was in the Glee Club.

* * *

When Rachel Berry stormed out of Glee club and demanded a male vocalist who could keep up with her talent, Will Shuester had known that all hope for the Glee club was screwed if he couldn't find somebody, because Rachel was the most talented high school student he had ever seen in his entire life. He needed her to be his star and he needed to have a male lead who was able to keep up with vocally.

The only problem was that he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know who he could turn to.

Which would explain why Noah Puckerman was sitting in the locker room with the rest of the football team while Mr. Shuester went on and on about how much fun Glee club was and how he would love for any of them to take the opportunity to join.

And for a second, when Puck and his best buddy Finn shared a glance, he had thought everything would be okay and they could join the club and maintain their popularity while being on the football team as well.

But then Mike Chang had stood up and told Mr. Shuester that he could dance and then went on to show that he actually _could _dance and the jokes had begun. So, while Mike had been able to shake off the teasing from his teammates, Mike had rolled his eyes and said he didn't care, he was joining the club because it was just going to be another way to help him get into a good college, and since everybody knew that Mike's parents were all about college, they shut up and figured he was doing it just to please him.

But Finn and Puck? They couldn't figure out a way for them to join the club and make it look cool. They couldn't figure out a way to join the club and make it appear as though they didn't really care about the club and were merely doing it to make their parents happy because neither of their mother's had the main priority of college and what they'd need to do to get into a good school.

So, when Mr. Shuester was gone and the rest of the club cleared out after writing insulting and rude fake names on his sign up list, Puck took his post-shower practice, and he allowed himself to sing a song he'd been working on for his Music Theory class, in an effort to try and calm his thoughts down-because Mike, his only competition for Rachel, was now going to be in the club with Rachel and get to spend even more alone time with her than he already was spending with her.

_"It makes no difference where you come from/I don't care if you need my love/You know I'll be there/I swear I want to sing to the world/No need to keep a secret/You are the one, the only-my musical soulmate," _he sang out to his original song that he needed to compose for one of his many music electives, which happened to be some of the only classes he always made sure to go to-and it wasn't just because Rachel was in those classes. He went because he enjoyed every second that he was in there and there was nothing anybody could say that would make him feel otherwise about it-not that he let people know he took the classes.

He was vaguely aware of a door opening and closing, but he paid it no mind.

After all, nobody was saying anything to him and he had heard all of those losers singing in the shower before, so they couldn't make fun of him for something like that. Any anyways, if they really wanted to talk shit about him, he would just turn it around to why they would sit around and listen to him sing while he was taking a god damn shower. Because the rumors something like that would spark about what that idiot had done would immediately cover up the oh-so-interesting story about Puck singing in the shower like a normal teenager did. It didn't mean shit, so what did he care if he was overheard?

The only thing that made him start to worry was the next day when he was called to Mr. Shuester's office.

* * *

"What is he doing here?" Rachel asked, narrowing her eyes as she sat in the front row of chairs in choir room with Mike by her side, arm casually slung over the back of her chair in his typical fashion.

About four chairs away was Tina Cohen-Chang who was sitting besides Artie who had added an extra seat to the row, due to his chair, while Kurt and Mercedes were leaning forward from their own chairs in the second row, whispering with their other two friends as they giggled, pausing only when Rachel's outburst cut into their gossip.

"He's joining the Glee club," Mr. Shuester said casually, not even bothering to turn from where he was shuffling through sheet music at the piano, his back to the rest of the group as he tried to figure out an appropriate song for Rachel to sing with their newest member for his first day in the club. All he knew for sure was that it had to be good because it had to convince Rachel that he had made the right move in selecting him to play her leading man, because her opinion would determine the club's fate.

"Oh, hell to the no-white boy gives us all slushy facials on a daily basis. Do you seriously think any of us want him in the club?" Mercedes Jones asked with her eyes narrowed.

Standing at the doorway with a backpack swung over one shoulder and his head hung low, was Noah Puckerman.

"Can he even sing?" Tina Cohen-Chang blurted out.

For a while, Tina had lied about having a stutter, but after meeting Artie and seeing somebody with a real handicap, she hadn't been able to keep up the lie anymore. It had just hurt too much to know that she was pretending to have a problem when Artie really did have one and wished he could get rid of it.

"I can sing," Puck said, narrowing his eyes as he walked into the room, throwing his bag onto a chair and turning towards the director. "Give me a song to sing, and I'll prove it to them," He insisted.

"You want to sing a solo?" Mr. Shuester asked in surprise as he turned to look at Puck in shock.

"Why not? Give me anything you got," Puck shrugged, hands stuffed in the pockets of his letterman jacket.

"Um...alright-here, this seems your style," Mr. Shuester said, grabbing a piece of sheet music at random and walking across the room, handing him the paper.

"Wait-hold up a second-you guys don't just sing a bunch of show tunes and Broadway?"

"What do you think we do in here? Seriously, why are you even here, because I'm pretty sure that you bully each and every one us-except for Michael-because we're in this club. If you don't even know what it is, why would you want to be a part of something you consider to be so lame and uncool?" Rachel snapped at him, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

He didn't answer her, instead he just handed a piece of sheet music back to Mr. Shuester and walked towards one of the locker's in the room that the band students used to store their instruments, pulling one open and pulling out a guitar.

"Woah-calm down there, killer," Mike laughed, reaching out and pulling her towards him with one arm, messing her hair up with the free hand as her head was pulled against his chest.

Puck watched on enviously as he set up his guitar and nodded to the rest of the band to start playing the music.

And when the introduction was over, he began to sing.

"_Her name is Noel, I have a dream about her/She rings my bell, I got gym class in half an hour/Oh, how she rocks in keds and tube socks/But she doesn't know who I am, and she doesn't give a damn about me/'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, yeah I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby/Listen to iron maiden maybe with me," _His strong, tenor voice starting to sing out, lowering down as the chorus began to show off his wide range of notes.

Rachel's eyes widened and she bit on her lip to keep her jaw from dropping as she crossed her arms tighter around her chest. She was not going to let him know that she was impressed by his voice, because that would give him some sort of power over her and he didn't deserve to have any power over her other than the one he already had. Nobody deserved to have that much power over her.

"_Her boyfriend's a dick, he brings a gun to school/And he'd simply kick my ass if he knew the truth/He lives on my block and drives an iroc/But he doesn't know who I am/And he doesn't give a damn about me/Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby/Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby/Listen to Iron Maiden maybe with me," _Puck went on singing.

Mike couldn't bring himself to look down at Rachel because he already knew what her reaction was going to be, and he didn't want to watch as she fell even more in love with her tormentor. That wasn't even how real life was supposed to work. The good guy was supposed to get the girl, not the jerk.

"_Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missing/Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missing." _

Every single member of the Glee club had their eyes focused on Rachel, with the exception of Mike, who refused to look at Puck, and Rachel who wouldn't give him the satisfaction. The fact of the matter was, he was actually good and that was a shock to most of the people around them, especially since he always seemed to bully people with talent or a passion for anything.

_"Man, I feel like mold/It's prom night and I am lonely/Low and behold, she's walking over to me/This must be fake, my lips start to shake/How does she know who I am/And why does she give a damn about me?" _Puck went on singing.

Rachel finally gave in and looked at him, shocked to see that he was watching her as he sang the lyrics, and something gave her the impression that he hadn't just casually looked over at her at that convenient moment. Something told her that he had been focused on her for a majority of the time.

"_I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby/Come with Friday, don't say maybe/I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby, like you/Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missing/Oh, yeah, dirtbag, no, she doesn't know what she's missing," _His voice changed into a shockingly high pitch before it lowered for the last two lines of the song.

As he strummed the final chords, he flashed a wink in Rachel's direction.

"Well?" Puck asked, releasing his grasp on his guitar. "Was that good enough for you, or are you worried you wouldn't be able to keep up?" he asked, but his eyes were still locked on Rachel as he spoke.

Mike's arm found its way around Rachel's shoulders, tugging so that she was pulled closer to him.

Puck snarled as he walked towards his guitar case and carefully began putting it away, trying not to look up and away from his precious guitar until he was sure he would have something other than Mike and Rachel to focus his attention on.

"He's amazing," Tina blurted out.

With the stutter gone, she had taken to blurting things out non-stop as if she just couldn't help it, which her three best friends were fairly certain she wasn't able to do, as she had been doing it for a very long time.

"White boy's got some skill," Mercedes nodded her agreement on the matter.

"I suppose having another male with strong vocals could come in handy," Kurt sighed, looking down at his hands as if he had to check on his manicure, which Puck wouldn't be surprised to find out was true, with his many feminine habits-not that Puck minded Kurt's sexuality, because it just meant he had one less dude to worry about trying to steal Rachel from him.

"I might have somebody to rap with..."Artie said thoughtfully and Puck looked up at the dorky boy in shock, sharing an admiring smile with the happy looking wheel-chair clad boy.

"I guess it would be nice for a male lead who's able to keep up with vocally," Rachel replied, clearly back into her refusal to admit his talent now that Mike was able to whisper into her ear and hold her closer without Puck's voice or gaze as a distraction.

"I'm singing with the princess over there?" Puck asked, closing his guitar case and turning back towards Mr. Shuester.

"We prefer calling her a diva," Kurt spoke up, raising a hand in the air as if waiting to be called on.

"Mr. Shuester," Rachel spoke up. "We need twelve members to compete and right now we have seven. That means we are in desperate need of at least five more members." She said, obviously trying to get off of the topic of insulting her.

"Isn't being a diva a good thing?" Puck asked Kurt, obviously ignoring the fact that Rachel had even spoken.

"Not when you're a psycho diva who would rather have solos than friends and who's only concern is her career and getting famous, rather than being nice and enjoying her teenage years," Mercedes replied with an eye roll.

"News flash? Most guys find ambition pretty sexy," Puck said, turning back towards Rachel and winking.

That shut the four original members right up, and it caused Mike to tighten his grip on Rachel.

"We'll figure out how to get the five new members tomorrow. We'll call it a day and we can brainstorm ideas for getting some new members, tonight and share tomorrow," Mr. Shuester said with that typical smile on his face.

Rachel sighed, standing up and reaching for her bag, only to be intercepted by Mike who reached out and took it from her, swinging it over his shoulder with his own bag, swinging his arm around her waist for comfort purposes, and probably just to annoy Puck a little bit, because when it came to Rachel, it was more than just strong feelings of love and lust and a crush.

It was a war between the two of them.

* * *

"I can't believe the nerve of Mr. Shuester! I know that I told him I needed a male vocalist who could keep up with my talent, but I didn't think he would actually go and pick Noah Puckerman! He knows how Noah's been running around giving us all slushy facials since the beginning of the existence of Glee club! Can you even imagine me having to sing a duet with him? I seriously hope that when we fill up all those open slots we end up with somebody with a little more class than him and more talent so that I have somebody else to sing lead with," Rachel was ranting as they entered Breadstix two hours later.

Mike had raced to football practice and was only half an hour late and as soon as it was over, he had taken a quick shower in the locker room and changed as fast as he could so Rachel wasn't waiting too long before he had surprised her with a trip to her favorite restaurant so they could have dinner together-it was something they typically did, whenever one of them had had a bad day, but he knew Rachel hadn't been expecting him to follow through with the tradition now that he had so many extra things on his plate. Clearly she had been wrong and shouldn't underestimate Mike's commitment to their relationship.

"Rach, I love you and all, but please just stop ranting and raving about how upset you are by his very presence in the choir room and focus on the fact that I'm your best friend, I'm in the Glee club like you asked me to be, and I'm treating you to those vegan meatballs you love so much. Can you do that for me?" He asked her with that half smile on his face he gave to her whenever he was messing with her but there was a twinge of seriousness to what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, Michael-I know I'm being very unfair to you," She sighed as they followed the hostess over towards a booth. "It's just that-ugh, seriously? Does he really have to be here right now, especially with that bitch of a girlfriend?" She sighed as they passed by Puck and Santana sitting at a booth together. Clearly Rachel was too upset with him to stop calling him by his first name, that he hated anybody calling him, or to be jealous at the sight of him on a date with another girl.

"Do you want to leave?" Mike asked as they slid into their own booth, which was only a few tables away from where Puck was sitting. "Because we can leave and I'll take you somewhere else. I just really don't want to listen to you rant on and on about how annoyed you are that he's in the club when it's clear you have a crush on him." Mike said bitterly.

Rachel studied him, hurt written across her face as she took in what he had just accused her of, and as he took in her reaction, he realized what he had said and instantly regretted it. He brought a hand up to cover his mouth and shook his head, immediately apologizing to her for his words and actions. She didn't deserve that.

"I don't have a crush on him. Do I believe it would be a lovely change of pace if he fell for me and do I secretly hope that it might happen, just to end the bullying? Yes, I most certainly do. But I do not have a crush on him," Rachel said.

"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I just get tired of hearing about him all the time as if he's some great attribute to society when he really isn't. And I hate the way he makes you feel about yourself," Mike sighed.

"I do, too, Michael, and that's why I could never have a crush on him," Rachel said.

And while he knew she was lying, he allowed her words to reassure him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Saved By The Music  
A Glee AU Fan Fiction  
Chapter 3: Breaking Out**

_**A/N: Just on a side note-while writing this, I burst into hysterics multiple times because I kept spelling perform wrong and it reminded me of a joke my own Glee Club Director said once. She also teaches chorus at school and was telling us about how the middle schoolers had to write an essay about their performance at their winter concert when they had a substitute and she was grading the papers and absolutely appalled at their spelling. And her biggest complaint was that they speller perform incorrectly. She wrote it on the board how they spelled it and everybody burst out laughing (well, all the guys) and she's like "We do not PRE-form! At least, not in my room." And it was a funny concept because of what she said and because when we sang Bohemian Rhapsody for high school chorus, the tenors sang "I just killed a man." and she was like "Um, I hope not." "Put a gun against his head." "Not in here." "Pulled the trigger and he's dead." "No, you really, didn't." So it's just a joke that whenever something inappropriate happens in the choir room, she replied as if to say she doesn't care if it happens outside of her room, but it better not be mentioned in her room. I love our chorus teacher-she's our very own Mr. Shue and we lovingly tell her that all of the time.  
A/N2: This chapter took so long to write because my friends are all back from their vacations and we can actually hang out again since I'm done with my vacations as well. We've been trying to spend as much time as possible together before school starts. Last night was pretty much our big get together though so I'll have more time. We played Just Dance and my best guy friend, the one who acts like how Puck acts towards Rachel in the Puckleberry Fan Fictions (minus the romantic feelings) towards me, who my friends all nicknamed Rachel Berry, said he couldn't play Just Dance with us because he'd break my nose like Finn did and I told him to go ahead because I want a Barbra-Vention and a gay best friend who he'd need to find in order to properly throw one for me. That got a laugh out of my only two friends who actually watch Glee that were there, besides my best-guy friend. Anyways, there's that story that I wanted to share with people who wouldn't judge me for being so Glee-obsessed. **_

* * *

Noah Puckerman could feel his fists clenching together as he watched Mike lead Rachel towards a table in Breadstix, hand resting on the small of her back. He couldn't help but clench his jaw just a little bit tighter when Mike Chang pulled out her chair for her and then pushed a now seated girl back into the table. And he knew that there was probably an angry look to his eyes as he watched the pair laugh together and converse easily across the table.

He was well aware that Santana Lopez, his current girlfriend, was sitting on the other side of the table from him, arms crossed tightly across her chest that was covered by the thick red and white fabric that made up her Cheerio's uniform-this one was the tank-top dress with the pleated bottom that teased every male in the school as it swayed, tempting a look at her ass while while just revealing yet another layer of fabric, a pair of red spandex shorts that stretched themselves out across the ass of every Cheerio in the school. He could feel her own glare staring right into his as her usually pretty face formed a rather unattractive scowl.

Before Rachel and Mike had walked in, they had had their own conversation going, even if it was about something stupid where Santana was going on and on about the latest gossip while he pretended to listen, but he had cut her off as soon as he'd spotted the newcomers and that had started the bitter silence between the two.

That alone should have been enough to warn him that nothing good was going to come from the Latina's reaction to what was happening, especially as her eyes trailed to follow what he was so intent at glaring at.

And that was what brought them to their current argument.

"Rachel Berry? Are you _seriously _staring at Rachel Berry right now as if she were the hottest piece of meat on campus? And are you _seriously _glaring at Mike Chang because he's the one sitting with her right now? Because I can _see _that you're doing it, but I don't _want _to admit that _my _boyfriend is staring at _Rapaul!" _Santana snarled, whirling her head around to face him again, palms slamming down against the table in anger-she was a very jealous and possessive girlfriend.

Puck clenched his fist even tighter, tearing his gaze from the beautiful brunette and onto the seductive raven-haired girl sitting near him, anger flooding his expression even more than before as he stared at her.

"Don't call her that," he growled, his voice a low sound coming from the back of his throat. "Stop making fun of her all the time-what's she ever done to you to deserve that?" He asked, his voice hollow-sounding as he forced himself to ease his grip and try to relax his body, calming his tensed-up muscles in an effort to rid himself of some anger.

"Well, for starters, there's the fact that my _boyfriend _happens to be staring at said girl while he is on a date with _me." _Santana rolled her eyes. "But, of course, that's a horrible reason for me to dislike her, isn't it?" She asked sarcastically.

"I just don't get what the hell it is about him-I mean..."He paused at the change of posture Santana took on, raising an eyebrow in the air as she sat up higher in her chair, taking on a tone of interested. He cleared his throat before starting once again. "I meant-I just don't see what Mike sees in her that he's always with her," He muttered.

"Yeah, sure, _that's _the problem," She rolled her eyes.

She returned to her meal, looking down at the salad she had just had delivered as her appetizer. She shook her head, gaze off of her date and muttered something in Spanish that he couldn't understand under her breath.

He sighed, reaching up and running a hand through his mohawk.

Santana knew that something was up with him and Rachel, at least, that he wanted there to be something there. She was smart when it came to things like that and she knew that he had feelings for Rachel. And now that she knew that, things were going to get a whole lot worse for the Queen of the Gleeks.

"She's pretty, I guess, in a plain sort of way...and I guess, if you're into the whole 'to-catch-a-predator' type of appearance, she's kind of hot, in a way," Santana replied softly, looking up at him from below her eyelashes.

He paused, staring up from the Doctor Pepper he had in front of him in confusion.

There was no way that Santana Lopez was acting as though she understood what was going on right now with his head. She wasn't an understanding person and she wouldn't get that he would rather be with Rachel than her-after all, even Puck wasn't sure that he understood it himself.

"I'm not being sarcastic or petty, Puckerman," She responded, as if reading his thoughts-he really hated it when she did that. "It's true, even if I hate to admit it. And I guess the fact that both of you are Jewish could spark a bit of curiosity in you, especially with how into your religion you are and everything-and with that totally rude comment your mother made about you the other night, when she said you were no better than-"

"Alright, I get it. So? You're understanding and crap. So what?" He asked her, cutting her off. He didn't want to remember _that _particular memory at the moment.

He knew telling Santana had been stupid, especially since she had taken what he had _thought _his mother had said and had twisted into something evil and vile, forcing him to believe that his mother had actually insulted him in such a cruel and hurtful way, in comparison to her usual insults that had a bit of a playful edge to them, as if she were teasing him.

"So, as good as you are for a hook-up, it's not worth it if you want to be with Rachel so badly. And it's not going to help your case with her. So, we're done and that's whatever. We can say whatever we want happened-nobody's going to believe whatever story we make up anyways so we might as well just let the rumors run their course. Just, do me a favor, alright?" She said, getting her things together as she rose to her feet. "Try not to mess this one up? I've never seen you like this with a girl before, and I prefer this side of you to the one you were with me. And Brittany. And every other sexual encounter you've ever had," She winked playfully, turning on her heel and making her way from the restaurant, reminding him once again of why he considered her to be his best friend.

* * *

"Santana Lopez broke up with Noah Puckerman!"

"What? Where'd you hear that from? Everybody knows he broke up with her."

"They weren't really dating-they were just using one another for sex."

"Everybody knows she would never let him _really _dump her."

"He wouldn't let her go-he likes the booty calls too much."

"She got up and left in the middle of their date last night."

"I heard it was for another girl-not that it's a surprise."

"He cheated on her-with one of his clients. He's into cougars."

"They'll be back together in no time."

"Who was your source? I heard _she _cheated on _him _with a college guy."

"They're still sleeping together-they sleep with everybody."

"Their entire relationship was based off being fuck buddies."

"It's seriously over, though."

The rumors had been filling the hallways of McKinley all day and Rachel Berry had honestly had enough of them. After all, who cared if Puck and Santana had broken up? Did anybody like them, whether they were apart or not? And who's business was it how they had broken up or for what reason, other than their own?

It was pointless to waste time conversing about their relationships and the inner workings of it, when nobody would ever know the truth but themselves-especially when everybody knew that the real source of all the rumors was Jacob Ben Israel, the biggest gossip in the entire school and one of the few other Jewish teenagers in Lima.

He had a blog devoted to spreading around untrue tidbits about the students at McKinley-with it's own section devoted to Rachel and his hopeless crush on her that Rachel might feel bad about ignoring if he wasn't always so creepy about her and the things that she did. Mike was pretty sure that the red-haired boy had bugged her bedroom with cameras and microphones to watch her every move and was constantly checking her room to ensure that she was safe of being spied on by the freak.

She slammed her locker shit with a sigh, turning around and leaning against the lockers as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch. She had her arms crossed over her chest, hugging her books to it tightly with her oversized tote-bag hanging from the crook of her shoulder, acting as her purse/book bag for the school day.

"You don't look happy. You didn't get slushied all day and no one has said anything negative to you all day. Don't tell me you're missing the attention and the drama," Mike teased her, appearing by her side and leaning against the locker besides her.

"No, it's a pleasant change. I'm just tired of hearing everybody go on and on talking about what's happening in other people's lives as if it's so interesting that Noah and Santana broke up," Rachel replied with an eye roll, pushing from her locker and walking towards the cafeteria.

"They need something to talk about. Their lives are boring, unlike yours. And you're going the wrong way," He told her, swinging an arm over her shoulder and forcing her to start in the opposite direction, towards the exit to the school. "I'm taking you out to lunch. You deserve a break," he smiled down at her.

"Michael, if we aren't back in time, my flawless permanent record with it's perfect attendance is going to be ruined. I've been working on that for eleven years now and I won't have it ruined just so-"

"Just so you can eat something vegan that tastes good, rather than the crap the school serves because I know you forgot to pack lunch?" He cut her off, raising an eyebrow as he forced her gently out of the school.

"I hate it that you know me so well," She muttered under her breath, but there was a smile on her face.

"You love it that I know you so well, because it means you get everything you ever wanted without seeming like a spoiled brat who asks for the world," He rolled his eyes, giving her a knowing look as she glared at him, hating that he was, once again, correct about her.

Of course, he would have known without the look. He knew her well enough to know everything about her by that point in their lives, and he wasn't planning on that changing anytime soon. He wasn't planning on that ever changing, actually. But, sometimes it was easier to act as if her looks were enough to silence him and stop him from bragging about being right. That way, he didn't have to argue with her and risk her getting mad and resorting to the cold shoulder. That girl could hold a grudge surprisingly long for somebody without any other friends.

* * *

Rachel sat in the choir room during her free period, seated at the piano bench as she mindlessly played a few notes, trying to figure out a song to get rid of her emotions. The best way that she had found to understand her emotions, was to sing about them in an effort to get them out into the open.

As she played, a new Demi Lovato song popped in her head after playing the same chords a few times. She started to play the introduction, and before long her voice was singing over the instrumental coming from the piano.

_"There's a boy, lost his way/Looking for someone to play/There's a girl in the window/Tears rolling down her face/We're only lost children, trying to find a friend/Trying to find a way back home/We don't know where to go/So I'll just get lost with you/We'll never fall apart, 'cause we fit together right, we'll fit together right/These dark clouds over me, rain down and roll away/We'll never fall apart 'cause we fit together like/Two pieces of a broken heart," _She sang out.

She had been feeling conflicted about her feelings towards the Puck-tana split since she'd first heard the rumors. At first, she had felt excited and ecstatic, believing when she had heard that she had been dumped for another girl, she might be the one in question. But then she had heard the other theories and she had realized that, no matter what, she wasn't Puck's type and he belonged with a girl more like Santana.

Puck just wanted a girl who he could fool around with and use for a good time. Rachel couldn't handle that and if she was expected to allow her boyfriend a 'hall-pass' whenever he was tempted to try something new, she would be left with tears streaming down her face.

She and Puck may have a lot in common, but they were too different from one another in the ways that mattered to ever find a middle ground for them to compromise. She couldn't allow herself to get lose in his hazel eyes or to fall apart at the sight of him. His heart would never be her home and he wasn't the friend she needed to look for when she was upset. He was immature and while they might still be considered children to some people, they were too mature to play games like the games he liked.

_"I know where we could go/And never feel let down again/e could build sand castles, I'l be the queen; you'll be my king/We're only lost children, trying to find a friend-"_

"Well, they were right about you," A voice cut into her solo and she stopped playing, fingers hovering above the keys she'd been about to play. "You might make me want to light myself on fire every now and then, but man, you sure can sing," Noah Puckerman said, giving her a whistle of approval as he slid onto the piano bench besides her. _  
_

"What are you doing in here? I thought the football team had to use their free periods to work out?" She questioned.

"They're supposed to," He shrugged. "And if anybody asks, I was there-with these guns, the coach will believe anything," Puck grinned at her, flexing as if to show her the size of his muscles and prove a point.

"Well, yes, I do suppose that your arms are quite lovely. But that still doesn't explain what you're doing here," She told him, not losing her usual composure for a second.

He had to give her credit for that. Most girls would have already been falling apart at his presence so close to her. Once he'd flexed within that close proximity, he wouldn't have had to worry about making small talk with them or any other form of communication. They would be too breathless to speak and he'd be making his way around the bases.

He probably should have expected that he wouldn't be able to frazzle Rachel that way. She wouldn't be struck speechless by his presence and flashing his muscles and giving her a free ticket to the gun show? That wasn't going to do anything to distract her. She was much too smart for his tricks and she was different from every other girl he'd ever tried to win over. That was what he liked her about her-she was hard to get and it wasn't because she was trying to be.

She just had to be romanced and woo-ed. It would take a lot for a guy to win her heart, and Puck wanted to be the one to date her, no matter what it took. Whether it was because his feelings for her were real and went deeper than he wanted to admit, or if it was because his feelings were based on the knowledge that whoever got Berry was going to be a legend, he wasn't sure.

"I never go work out with the team, and since Satan and I are over and done with, I needed someplace new to hang out," He responded easily, unsure of why the answer he was giving her was true.

And then he saw her turn to him with a smile and he realized that the honesty was worth it, as long as he got to see that smile on her face, because her smile made her look even better than she normally looked. And that was saying a lot about the power of her smile, as she already was the best looking girl at school, at least, if anybody asked him about it.

"Well, I suppose we could work on some things for Glee together, now that there's another mind to pick in the room with me," She said slowly, as if waiting for him to get up and walk out on her for even suggesting something related to the club.

And, if it had been anybody else, he would have left.

"We need to recruit some more members, right?" He asked, unsure of why he was volunteering to the conversation at all-and then her smile widened. He figured that was a good enough excuse for everything he did in life. "What if we performed at the assembly this Friday?" He wondered.

"I was expecting you to ask if you could use your strength to intimidate people to join," She replied with a slight giggle.

"Having one bad ass and an einstein football player in the club ain't gonna cut it, my hot little Jewish-American princess. If we had a Cheerio or two...that might be able to help our case-especially with you in one of those little skirts? Guys would be lining up at the door," He winked at her as his teasing nature was restored to him.

"I think that performing at the assembly would be a wise decision." Rachel replied, ignoring his crude remark. "But what song and who would be the lead?" She asked.

"Didn't you just hear me? If people heard you sing, they'd forget about how annoying you are most of the time and just want to hear you sing more so they aren't urged to punch you in the face. If you sing something at the assembly, we're golden-especially if you wear a skirt just a little shorter than usual and maybe add a tight top with a low-cut to it..."He trailed off, a dreamy look on his face.

"You have a one track mind and I find it highly inappropriate for a male who has just broken up with his girlfriend," Rachel replied.

"It was a mutual thing-we weren't into one another, anyways," he shrugged, looking down at the piano and placing his hands on the keys. "She's already trying to worm her way into Matt-you know, that Rutherford kid that's always with Mike?" He asked, turning his face towards her a little bit, starting to play a few notes on the piano.

"I know who Matthew is-he and Mike are wonderful friends, you know," Rachel replied.

"Yeah, I know. Anyways, she's already trying to get with him. Whatever-we were never really anything serious anyways. And, besides, I'm into somebody else, always have been, in a way," he shrugged again, still playing some melody that was strangely familiar to Rachel, but something she just couldn't place-because she knew that Noah Puckerman wouldn't be playing a song like that. He probably didn't even know that it existed.

"Oh," She whispered, looking down at the piano. "What song are you playing?" She asked.

"You're easily distracted. It's Christina Aguilera. My sister's obsessed with it. Guess it just got stuck in my head," He shrugged.

"Sarah's still listening to it?" Rachel asked with a smile.

"Don't tell me you're the one that got it in her head to sing it at the JCC summer talent show this year," Puck groaned. "She hasn't stopped singing it in forever," He complained.

"I was baby sitting a few weeks ago, right before school started, and she said she would like to win this year. I merely showed her the song and said that I thought it would fit her vocal range quite nicely. And you should encourage your sister more. She's quite talented, you know. Almost as talented as you are," She was moving from the piano bench now.

"Where are you going?"

"I would hate for anybody to get the wrong idea about us. Even if it would be unbelievable, you know how rumors fly. If you're into somebody else, I wouldn't want them to question those feelings," She shrugged.

"You're a smart girl, aren't you?" He was asking the question seriously, which confused her.

"Yes?"

"Then don't be so stupid all of the time," He rolled his eyes. "That girl I'm into? It's not one of the Cheerios. She's not anybody who isn't in this room right now. I'm into you, alright? And Santana and I broke up because she realized that as soon as you walked into Breadstix with Mike last night." He shook his head, rising to his feet and making his way from the room. "But, whatever, don't worry about it," He called over his shoulder, exiting the room.

* * *

Rachel was strangely quiet and Mike wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about that. She was rarely ever quiet, but ever since he'd met up with her after their free period, she hadn't said a word. And that sort of scared him, just a little bit.

"What's up with you?" He asked.

"Noah met me in the choir room today during my free period. Apparently he always skips out on going to work out with the team, but that's irrelevant, I suppose. Anyways, he was talking to me about his break-up with Santana and he told me he was fine with the entire ordeal, because she was already moving on to Matt, meaning she didn't care and he was already into somebody else-they were never in a serious relationship, I guess. But, then, as he was leaving, he told me that the girl he was interested was...well, apparently Noah has feelings towards me," Rachel said it all in a rush, showing she'd been dying to get that out.

"Oh..um, how'd that make you feel? I mean, it got you thinking, didn't it? Those are the only times you don't talk, when you're thinking. So, uh, what are you gonna do about his...uh, crush," Mike asked, reaching back and awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck, looking down at her as they walked towards the choir room.

"I don't know. It's a bit too cliche for my liking, and honestly, he's been so horrid to me that I couldn't see myself being serious with him. He'd have to prove that he's changed from the neanderthal that used to toss slushies into my face each morning. Besides, as much as I like him, I know your feelings when it comes to him and nothing is more important to me than our friendship, you know?" Rachel shrugged as they entered the choir room.

"I want you to be happy, okay, Rachel? If you want to be with him and if he proves that he's worth your time, go ahead. Don't worry about how I'm going to feel because I'd rather have your happiness with a guy that might prove to be somebody better than I thought he was than have you be miserable without a guy that might really be willing to change for you. Maybe, just maybe, you'll be the one who can change him into a better person," Mike sighed, swinging his arm around her as they made their way towards their usual seats in the center of the front row, side by side, away from the other four members of the club who were already present.

"Are you sure you mean that, Michael?" She frowned, leaning against him slightly.

"Rachel, you are my best friend and all I've done since we've determined that was try to prove to you that you deserve to be happy. So, can you just forget about my feelings and accept that the only way for me to be happy is for you to be happy first?" He asked her, looking down with a serious expression sketched across his face.

"Alright," She nodded. "But, regardless of your feelings on the topic-nothing will be happening between the two of us if he cannot prove to me that he's changed from the bully that he was before. I'm not interested in that boy. I'm interested in the one that I see at Temple or with his little sister when I have to go babysit her. The one who he is in those rare moments when he stops acting like his ridiculous alter ego which is named after a fairy from a play written by Shakespeare in an effort to make him appear tough and realizes that the real boy that he is is actually Noah," Rachel crossed her arms.

"Alright, that's fine. Just know that, no matter what you decide, I want you to be happy and that's all I want." He nodded, secretly grateful that she wouldn't be throwing herself at him immediately after he had declared his feelings.

Still, as much as he thought he liked Rachel, he could see that her heart wanted to be with Puck. And if Mike was honestly going to do whatever it took for her to be happy, he was going to have to bite the bullet and turn Puck into a better person-the type of person that he needed to be for Rachel to be with him and the type of guy that Mike wanted Rachel to be with. And that was going to take an awful lot of time, energy, and guts on Mike's part.

* * *

Puck groaned as Mike approached him after Glee rehearsal and before football practice.

"Dude, people are going to think we're gay. Especially since we're both in Glee together," Puck muttered as Mike approached the changing male, his shirt off as well.

"Oh, shut up with your stupid and ridiculous humor that you only use when you're trying to lighten the mood and make things seem humorous when you know there's an obvious tension in the air," Mike snapped. "Nobody's even in the room because they all went to practice early because they didn't have anything to in between." Mike reminded him.

"Whatever. What's this about?"

"Rachel?"

"Are you mad that I told her I liked her? Because she didn't exactly have an ideal reaction to that," Puck rolled his eyes.

"I'm not mad. And she likes you too, alright?"

"She does?" His face lit up into a smile.

"She doesn't want to be with you. Not unless you can prove that you've changed from the jack ass that bullied her and gave her a countless number of slushy facials," Mike said, his face lacking emotion.

"What the fuck does that mean? I'm in the god damn Glee club and I broke up with my sexy as shit girlfriend for her. I spent my fucking free period in the choir room with her playing some girly ass love ballad on the piano and poured my god damn heart out to her. What more could she possibly want to prove that I've changed?"

"Oh, I don't know," Mike said sarcastically. "Maybe some sort of moment that proves that you aren't ashamed of her or your feelings, where you do something crazy like fucking apologize to her? Or, better yet, make it look like you actually like her in public rather than hiding your feelings and telling her in an empty choir room. Show her that you're willing to be Noah, at least while you're with-"

Mike didn't get to finish, because as soon as the word Noah left his lips, Puck had lunged across the room and slammed him into the nearest flat surface, pinning him there with a harsh, angry scowl on his face.

"She gets to call me that. Nobody else even gets to say that name, got it? Because she's the only one that gets to know that guy," Puck growled in his face, releasing him and walking back to his locker.

"Yeah? Well, why don't you let her know how much she means to you the same way you just let me know that? Make sure everybody knows that you're a different person as long as you have her," Mike muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Saved By The Music  
A Glee AU Fan Fiction  
Chapter 4: Let The Wooing Begin**

Puck needed something big and impression, and he needed something_ fast_. It was clear that Mike had suffered some sort of head injury and that was why he was allowing Puck to attempt to go after Rachel. He had to win her over before Mike realized what had happened and changed his mind. Because a chance at Rachel without any negative interference coming from Mike was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

_"Make her realize you're sorry for all those slushy facials." _

Mike's words rang through Puck's mind as he drove past the gas station where he always picked up a slushy before school to toss into some losers face.

_Rachel likes grape...remember the last time you tossed one at her? She licked her lips clean and it was sort of a turn on, especially with the shirt she was wearing and how it got all see-through...But, she never does that, so grape must be her favorite...right?_

His thoughts appalled him. Had he really been paying that much attention to her that he realized what her favorite slushy flavor was? And was he honestly that sick and twisted that it turned him on to see her licking her lips for a taste of a slushy that had just been tossed into her face.

He turned quickly into the parking lot, his plan already forming, shaking his head to get rid of the dangerous thoughts running through his mind.

* * *

"It's for you," Puck said, slightly hurt that she thought he would throw a slushy into her face after their conversation the previous day. "I picked it up for you when I was buying dip. It's grape-I know that's your favorite, because the last time I tossed a grape one on your face, you licked your lips before you cleaned yourself off," He admitted sheepishly.

"What's the catch?" She asked, reaching out and accepting the drink from him.

"No catch-I got all my anger out this morning when I tossed Jacob Ben Israel in the face when he asked that I throw this at you because you were wearing white," He smiled down at her, proud of himself for not only defending her and controlling his impulse to toss the slushy into the face of the many losers he had passed who were saying negative things about Rachel as if she were the real loser. Besides, he was obviously paying attention to her, even in such a sick and twisted way.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" She raised her eyebrows, raising the drink to her mouth and taking a long, slow sip of the purple-colored ice.

"Um...I just thought..I-do you think you could help me with some stuff for Glee?" He blurted out.

He wasn't sure why he had asked the question, but, he'd blurted it out without thinking and now he had to follow through.

"We haven't gotten anything assigned for Glee yet," She rolled her eyes.

She was harder to impress than he had thought. Maybe Mike _wasn't _trying to help Puck. Maybe Mike just wanted Puck to realize that he was never going to get a girl like Rachel, so he might as well give up because it was too hard for somebody like him to impress somebody like her. But, that thought just made Puck want to work harder to impress her. It meant he wasn't going to give up until he had her on his arm. It gave him motivation and that was something he hadn't had for anything he'd done in a long time-it made him wonder just what he felt about Rachel that made him work so hard.

"I know, but I figured I could always work to improve my voice, and all-help the club out a little by sounding better, you know?" He shrugged, reaching back to scratch at the back of his neck awkwardly.

He'd never had to beg to meet up with a girl before. They normally just came running.

"Yeah, I guess that's true...Noah," She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry for how rude I've been this morning. I'm just very frustrated after a conversation I had with Mr. Shuester this morning. He's trying to insist that we sing some disco song at the assembly on Friday in order to gain some new members. Doesn't he see that disco is dead and nobody will join a club if they think we only perform songs that aren't from this-"

"What if I could get him to change his mind?" He cut her off.

"He's a teacher, Noah!" She said in outrage. "You can't just beat an idea out of him the way that you do with the other people you play football with," She said, obviously appalled by his thoughts-and it bothered him that she thought that was the only way he knew how to get what he wanted.

"Berry, here's the thing-he just needs to realize that we could go something a bit more modern and from this century. And if we can prove that we can do something better than disco," he rolled his eyes in disco. "We're all set," He smirked.

"What do you have planned?" She bit down on her bottom lip, holding her books flat, the spine against her hips with her hands holding the opposite side, looking up at him with the cutest expression on her face, with just the smallest bit of confusion masking over her eagerness to hear what he had planned. And, while she looked adorable, he wouldn't be a true bad ass if he didn't see the sexiness in her pose.

With her little, pleated purple, green and white plaid skirt with the white cropped tank top mock-turtle neck, paired with white knee socks and purple Mary Jane heels, she full-filled every single guy's dream of the sexy school girl just waiting for a bad boy to come and corrupt her innocent, good girl persona. And if Puck wasn't that rebel, he couldn't imagine who Rachel would be dreaming about. After all, he was _the _bad boy of the school and one day, he was sure he would be up there with the rest of the infamous bad boys who had been shown in predictable 80's movies and old 90's TV shows.

"You and I," He started, leaning in close to her with a devious look on his face. "Are going to sing a duet," He winked.

* * *

"Rachel, I'm not going to talk to him for you," Mike sighed as they stood by the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Please, Michael? I can't go over there. They all hate me," Rachel whined.

"Rachel, they do _not _hate you. Just go over there and ask him, because I'm not doing it for you. I will _not _go over there for you," Mike said.

"I'm not doing it, Michael. So, unless you want to sing some sort of disco song at the assembly, you better go and tell him to talk to me!" She stomped her foot.

"I hate you sometimes, you know that? You're so god damn stubborn," he rolled his eyes, turning on his heel and storming towards the football players' lunch table.

He shook his head, hating the power Rachel had over him, convincing him to do anything that she asked, even if it meant walking across the crowded cafeteria and towards the table where all of his teammates sat together, laughing and talking about their latest game. Even if it meant tapping Noah Puckerman, the guy who hates his guts, on the shoulder and going against his better judgement to deliver a message for his best friend to a guy that she was crazy about who didn't deserve her. Yeah, Mike hadn't been lying when he'd let Rachel know that sometimes, he really hated her-but not in the type of way that could ever last. He loved her too much for that. Whenever he thought he hated her, it was just in that best friend type of way where you hated the power they had over you and the way they knew you so well.

"Rachel wants to know if you plan on actually practicing that duet with her and if you're ever going to explain to her what you mean about that getting you out of singing some stupid disco song for the assembly. She's waiting by the door to talk to you." Mike said, crossing his arms over his chest as he rolled his eyes.

"She's waiting for me?" He asked, a smile on his face forming that Mike had never seen there before.

It looked happy, as if he were exited to spend time with Rachel. He looked like he was actually shocked that he meant something to Rachel. He seemed excited to go and see her. The smile was the type of smile people only got when it came to people they only cared about-he saw that smile on his father's face whenever his mother was around. The smile made his eyes light up and he jumped from his seat, taking off towards the doors where Rachel was patiently waiting for him.

"What's up with him?" Matt asked as Mike slid into Puck's old seat. "He banging Rachel-and you letting him get away with it?" He raised an eyebrow, studying his friend.

"Rachel's not having sex with anybody, and if she were, it definitely wouldn't be him. I'm not letting her become one of those girls. I think he actually likes her, believe it or not," Mike admitted, shaking his head as he watched Puck talk to Rachel, that smile still there, growing larger as they spoke.

"You think? He did break up with Santana..."Matt said thoughtfully. "She said it was for another girl when she was trying to convince me to come over this weekend," He added.

"He said he was into Rachel...I just don't know how much he means it. And he ran off like he couldn't wait to see her, just now. I just don't know how committed he's going to be to this whole thing, and I don't want her getting hurt. You know how I am when it comes to her," Mike shrugged, looking away as Puck swung an arm around Rachel's shoulders and led her down the hall, in the direction of the choir room.

Maybe he had given them both his blessing to do whatever the hell they wanted, but he didn't want to have to see it everywhere he went.

* * *

"What's the issue, Berry?" Puck asked, a teasing tone in his voice as he approached her, swinging an arm over her shoulders as he approached her.

She was leaning against the doorframe into the cafeteria, arms crossed over her chest and a slight pout on her face, making her already plump lips look even more kissable than they usually did, and he really wished he wasn't too afraid of rejection to just lean in and kiss her.

"Would you care to explain to me how singing a duet will get Mr. Shuester to change his mind about forcing us to perform some sort of a disco number at the assembly which will only further the humiliation that the rest of the club, minus yourself and Michael, need to suffer from on a daily basis? Because I seem to be drawing a blank when it comes to a logical explanation." She said, looking up at him and stepping away from his grasp.

"We're going to show him a song that's all ready for the assembly that people from this century actually like. And, to top it off, we're going to be singing the lead and you've got the best voice I've ever heard from anybody and I'm the best option the club has for a male lead, so unless we have you and Aretha belting out some sort of power ballad together while you fight for dominance-which would be a _total _turn on, if it were you and another girl who was _almost _as hot as you, because no girl is as hot or hotter than you-the best bet is gonna be me and you," He pointed out to her.

"Do you have a solo in mind for us to perform? Because I don't perform anything that I can't sing flawlessly and if you expect me to belt out a song on Friday-when today is Thursday-you're going to need to pick a song that we can sing easily," Rachel responded.

"You talk too much and you worry just as much. Now, let's get to the choir room and I'll show you what I've got in mind," He chuckled, swinging his arm around her shoulder again.

"This plan better work," Rachel muttered, allowing him to guide her towards the choir room.

"It's going to work-I may not seem like it, but I'm pretty damn smart sometimes," He rolled his eyes.

"I don't think you aren't smart, Noah. I just think that you're a little overly ambitious sometimes and don't think things through properly. That's nothing to be ashamed of-I'm the same way. It's nothing that I have against you personally. It just makes me a little hesitant," She shrugged.

"Hey," He squeezed her shoulder, pulling her the slightest bit closer to himself. "Don't worry about it-I know how much this club means to you, and I'm going to make sure that everything's good for you and it helps you reach your dreams, okay? We went over how much you mean to me, right?" He asked, suddenly serious.

"Noah...I understand that you like me and I appreciate all you're willing to do for me, but I just don't think I can bring myself to have a relationship with you. For a few reasons, and only the top one is that you're a little...um, you're much more experienced than I am and I don't think that we want the same things in a relationship as one another. If we're going to be the main leads together, we're going to have to erase any possible tensions that there could be between us." She said, a small smile on her face as she held up a hand as if she needed to silence him.

"Berry, do you seriously think that all I want from you is sex? Because, while the sex would be mind blowing, that's not how I think of you. And yeah, you're on my to-do list and all, but it's the very last thing I want to do with you. I want a lot more from you than that-I just want a relationship with you, okay? I want a chance to prove to you that I'm something more than meets the eye," He said softly.

"You don't? I mean...you do? I mean...you want a relationship with me, without sex?" She asked him in disbelief.

"Actually, I want sex from you. I mean, what's that old saying? Shy on the streets, sexy in the sheets? But, I would go slow for you. I've liked you for a while, and it's not just because my mom wants me with a nice, Jewish girl," He admitted.

"Noah, that's absolutely...I just can't bring myself to-"

"You talk too much," He chuckled, stopping her in the doorway to the choir room, bringing his other arm to wrap around her and leaning in to press his lips against her own. "Sorry, you're lips looked lonely, and I was thinking they might want to meet mine," He smirked at her, turning towards the choir room, forcing her to turn as well.

"Oh my Gaga," Kurt Hummel asked, voice raising about three octaves as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

He was sitting in the front row of the choir room with Mercedes besides him, turned slightly towards Tina who was on her other side. The two girls were angled just enough that they were able to see Puck and Rachel, with Artie on the other side of Tina, facing the couple directly.

"Oh, hey guys-we were just...um...Noah-can you help me out here?" Rachel asked, finding her voice as she looked up at him frantically.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, babe-I couldn't hear you over the imaginary sex I was having with you in my head," He grinned at her, causing her to smack him in the stomach. "Ow?" he asked sarcastically, looking down at her with an eyebrow cocked and a confused look on his face.

"How much is the Diva paying you, and is the rest of the football team prostituting themselves out to losers? Because I'd like a make-out session with a particular-"

"Paying _me? _I'm the one who should be paying Rachel. She's been turning me down for days now-I even bought her a slushy this morning without throwing it into your face, Beyonce-you better be expecting one tomorrow, though, for insinuating that she could only get kissed by a football player by paying them. And you might get tossed in the dumpster to, if I'm not in a generous mood, for calling her a loser. You better hope she stops rejecting me by then," Puck said, walking into the room and tossing his backpack onto a chair as he approached the Gleeks.

"Oh, hold up-_she's _rejecting _you?" _Mercedes asked, eyes growing wide.

"Yes, she is-now, if you two are done insulting my girl, we have a duet to practice," Puck rolled his eyes, turning back to a still dumbstruck Rachel Berry.

"You two are singing a duet?" Kurt screeched.

"Oh, will you just shut up and leave them alone?" This was from Artie. "Puck's been half-in-love with Rachel for years. Everybody knows that he only threw that first slushy at her because she rejected him. And the only reason he kept doing it was because he didn't want anybody else doing anything worse. Kurt, haven't you noticed a trend yet? Every time you insult Rachel when he's within earshot, he tosses you in a dumpster. And Mercedes, whenever you say something rude about her and Puck hears it, you get a slushy to the face. Now, if you're done being judgmental because everybody, and yes, that includes Rachel, has somebody to love them except you two, maybe we can leave them alone and Tina and I can explain that the reason you're so lonely is because you're so god damn cynical all the time," Artie snapped.

"Since when do you defend Rachel?" Mercedes muttered, standing up and grabbing her purse, storming out of the room.

"I am _not _single because I'm _cynical. _And I am _not _cynical!" Kurt stomped his foot, stalking out after Mercedes.

"I'm sorry about them. Sometimes they just get a little bit jealous because Rachel's talented and she wouldn't be so disliked if she just cut out how smart she was when she talked to people, unlike them," Tina smiled apologetically as she wheeled Artie from the room.

"Thanks for that, man," Puck said, reaching out to pound fists with Artie as he passed.

"It had to be said, man," Artie shrugged, accepting the fist-pound as they exited the room.

"Those were some of the worst storm-outs I have ever seen from people who refer to themselves as divas!" Rachel said, actually having enough of a voice and returning to her old self at their absence. "Um, what song were you thinking about-"

"Hold up," Puck held up a hand to silence her. "We are _not _kissing and then getting right to work. We are going to _talk _about it, no matter how much that thought scares me," He rolled his eyes.

"You kissed me."

"You liked it."

"Can we talk about this later? Let's just sing the duet now, alright?" She pleaded. And her begging, with those wide, adorable, doe-like eyes and that sexy, sad little pout, was enough to get him to do whatever she wanted him to do.

"Alright, I was thinking we could do something from that new TV show-_Smash_? You know, _Heart-Shaped Wreckage?" _He suggested, that smirk on his face that signaled he believed that they would be doing much more than talking when they met up later to discuss the kiss-and that made him happy. That gave him hope, even if she hadn't hinted at them having a little bit more.

"I love that song!" Rachel grinned excitedly.

Puck smiled to himself, celebrating his small victory as he made his way towards the lockers where he kept his guitar. He was silent as he spun the combination to open the locker and then pulled it open, grabbing the case and then removing his guitar. He walked towards her, already strumming the notes to the song that he had taught himself the previous night.

"_I'm not scared to tell the truth/I've been to hell and back, and I went with you/Reming me what we were before/When we said, you are mine and I am yours," _Puck's voice sang out as he made his way towards her, a different type of expression filling his face.

"_I don't know much I know myself/And I don't wanna love anybody else/So, let's break the spell and lift the curse/Remember when we fell for each other, head first," _Rachel's voice cut him off, a near-perfect break and blend of their voices without the proper practice that Rachel was used to when it came to a performance. She was only a little surprised-she had figured their voices would blend well, but even she hadn't thought it would be that well.

"_Look at this heart-shaped wreckage-What have we done? We have got scars from battles, nobody won/We can start over, better-both of us know/If we just let the broken pieces, let the broken pieces go," _Puck sang out the chorus, standing face to face with her, looking down at the short girl.

"_I can't find you in the dark/Will we get back to who we are/And I can't fix this on me own/Our love is still the best thing I've ever known," _Rachel sang out, turning around and walking away from him, sneaking little peeks at him from over her shoulder with a secretive smile.

"_Look at this heart-shaped wreckage, what have we done? We have got scars from battles, nobody won/We can start over-better, both of us know/If we just let the broken pieces, let the broken pieces go," _They sang out together, Rachel standing with her back to him as he made his way towards her, forcing her to turn around and face him at their obvious closeness to one another in location.

_"Let the borkne pieces go," _Puck sang as she turned around.

"_Just hold on to each tonight/Look at this heart-shaped wreckage-what have we done? We have got scars from battles, nobody won/We can start over-better, both of us know/If we just let the broken pieces, let the broken pieces," _They sang out together, Puck stopping his strumming as he released his grasp on the guitar, sending it around his body so that it was swung over his back.

"_Let the broken pieces," _He sung out, placing his hands on her hips as he pulled her closer to him.

"_Let the broken pieces," _Rachel sang out, the song ending as she looked up at him with heavy breathing from the easy and effortless performance that had still been one of the best performances she had had in her life.

As their lips were about to touch, the bell rang, breaking them from their trance.

"I have to go-I'll...I'll just talk to you later, alright?" She blurted out, breaking away from his grasp as she turned on her heel and hurried out of the room, leaving him there to kick at the nearest thing he could find-a chair-and cursing under his breath.

* * *

"You and Puckerman had a make-out session in the choir room?" Mike teased her, a playful smile on his face as he swung an arm around Rachel's shoulders when he caught up with her on her way to her last class of the day.

"How did you even find out about that?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"The Asian Community is really close," He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "So, you two a thing now or do I get to spend another day before I have to beat the living day out of him for messing with my girl and threatening the virtue of one of my best friends?" He asked, a serious expression suddenly forming across his face as his tone changed from playful to serious to allow her to know that he meant what he was saying.

"We aren't dating, Michael, and Noah doesn't want sex from me. And don't you dare laugh at that because it's true! He told me that he actually wants a relationship with me because I'm different to him than the other girls. I know that might be hard to believe, but you didn't see him when he told me that. We're going to be talking about it later on, because I didn't feel like a choir room was a good place when said room was emptied only seconds prior between to an awkward set of tension caused by two people who hate my guys witnessing Noah and I kiss in the doorway of the room before Artie and Tina defended me," Rachel rolled his eyes, reaching up and running a hand through her hair as she tried to explain what she was feeling and thinking to him without him laughing at her.

"Listen, I'll believe you because I know you aren't stupid and I know how good you are at reading people and all that, but I just want you to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into-I don't want him hurting you because you don't know what he's really like and you trust him too much for your own good. So, just...promise me that you're going to be careful, alright? Because while I always say I'll beat up any guy that hurts you, I don't want to risk my spot on the football team and my parents' wrath just to get my ass handed to me by a guy three times my size," Mike sighed.

* * *

"Alright, Berry-Porcelein and Wheezy are spreading those rumors about you and Puckerman getting your mack on outside of the chorus room during lunch today since it happened, and that means you're officially in the Puckerman's Conquest club." Rachel turned around to find a glaring Santana Lopez standing behind her, arms crossed tightly over her chest with his hip cocked out, one leg bent at the knee with a cliche-d, sassy-mean-girl pose to match the scowl that was stretched out across her lips. "Actually, you would have been anyways, because you're one of the few that he's going to settle down and be serious about-which would explain why Britts and I are the only two people in the club, besides you," Santana's scowl turned into a sincere smile as her eyes softened.

"Glad to have you, Rach! We always knew we'd need to have three of us, because third time's the charm and all and everything comes in threes or whatever-but in a way, we always feared it was going to be Quinn, and neither of us can really stand her," Brittany Pierce said with her usual bubbly tone to her voice as her typical beaming smile blinded Rachel as she bounced towards the brunette, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Is it weird that the guy you're gonna marry one day dated us? Because we don't want to lose your friendship before we even got it," Brittany said sincerely.

"Woah-marry Noah? We aren't even dating, Brittany. We aren't even thinking about anything close to marriage. Honestly, he hasn't even asked me out yet," Rachel said, eyes growing wide at Brittany's excitement and planning for the future as well as Santana's bipolar attitude towards Rachel and her developing relationship with Puck. "Wait-I understand how Noah was serious with you, but what about Brittany?" Rachel asked.

"Who's Noah? Is that some kind of pet name she has for Puck? Because if it is, we need to do a whole lot more than just a makeover to initiate her into the club," Brittany babbled on, hooking her arm through Rachel's arm.

"Noah's his first name, Britt," Santana rolled her eyes, hooking her arm through Rachel's as well.

"I'm really confused right now. What's this whole club about and why are you two in it and what's going on? I'm extremely confused as to what is happening and I feel as though it's some sort of prank that's going to result in you two beating me up," Rachel asked.

"Beat you up? Oh, please-I would have done that already if I wanted to. Anyways, this club is for any girlfriend that Puck's been serious about. While he and I dated all through eighth grade and for the beginning of this year, it was based on sex. Still, I was his first girlfriend and I dated him the longest. He really tried to make things work out with Brittany in a relationship, but they just didn't work together. She was his only other girlfriend," Santana explained.

"And you're in it, because even though you two aren't dating yet? He broke up with Santana to be with you. Besides, I've been telling all the Cheerio's about how the reason Puck and I never worked out was because I knew he was in love with you and Puckleberry was too good to pass up. I mean, you guys are like penguins-you mate for life once you found one another. And one day, there are going to be little Puckle-babies running around with mohawks and loud mouths who can sing like angels, just like you!" Brittany chirped out brightly, her same happiness still there.

"Puckle-babies? I could go for that," Puck's voice rang out and that was when Rachel realized where the Cheerios had been dragging her. The choir room.

"Ew-I really don't want to think about the two of you having sex. I'm just starting to accept the fact that you're into her and she likes you," Mike groaned, from where he was-surprisingly-sitting next to Puck.

"What is going on right now?" Rachel groaned.

"Britts and I are your new best friends. Mike is going to get over his little crush, and accept your feelings towards Puck. He is also going to stop hating Puck long enough to realize that Puck really cares about you. Therefore, Mike is going to step aside and let the two of you be happy together. I'm going to be there to comment negatively on everybody who rudely insults you because they're jealous that you have Puck while Brittany is going to babble on to anybody who tries to ruin things about you guys being perfect for one another. Also, we're joining Glee because we're going to be good friends. Mike-we're stealing her after school," Santana went on.

And that was how Rachel became best friends with two thirds of the Unholy Trinity. It was the story of how the Unholy Trinity broke up, leaving Quinn on her own. It was how Santana and Brittany joined the Glee club and it was how Mike got over his feelings to make way for Puckleberry.

But as for Puckleberry?

Well, that hadn't even started yet.

Puck had only just started to try and woo Rachel so he could win a place in her heart. And he still had a long way to go if he wanted to actually be with her and have anything that could be considered a real, serious relationship.


	5. Chapter 5

**Saved By The Music  
Glee Au Fan Fiction  
Chapter 5: Make-Over**

"Puckerman gave us strict orders when we decided to give you a makeover." Santana said as the girls climbed into Santan's red Volkswagen convertible.

Brittany crawled into the backseat which left Rachel to sit besides Santana in the passengers seat. "And, as much as I hate to go through with it now that we have to keep the knee socks and the plaid skirts, I cannot allow my newest best friend to wear animal sweaters at sixteen," She rolled her eyes.

"Don't you two have Cheerio's practice?" Rachel asked, choosing to ignore Santana's comments about her appearance, wardrobe, and Puck's opinions on the makeover in general. That would take too much brain capacity and she'd already near-fried her brain trying to figure out what was going on with her newfound friendship.

"Coach Sue cancelled. She has to talk to Quinn about something. Hopefully, it's about kicking her sorry blonde ass off the team so that I can be the captain, like I deserve. God, Quinn is such a little prima donna. I mean, you might be annoying as fuck, but that's you being a diva, and at least you have the talent to back it up. I'm better than Quinn-Sue just loves her because she's blonde and everything she wanted to be back when she was in high school. God, I hate her so much," Santana muttered, starting the car and clenching her steering wheel tightly as she drove from the school and towards the mall.

"I thought you guys were all friends?" Rachel frowned.

"Quinn only liked us because she needed somebody by her side if she was going to truly rule the school. She never really liked us and we never really cared for her," Brittany said, poking her head forward. "But we like you-you're nice," She said sweetly.

"Aside from Brittany-you've also got spunk and that means that you're a bitch, deep down. That's a good thing, because you're gonna need that when you're dating Puckerman. You need a backbone to last with that guy. Although, you've already got him wrapped around your pretty little finger," Santana shrugged, shooting her a look that Rachel had never seen on her face before-it was the type of look that Rachel usually flashed at Mike. A teasing grin with a playful sparkle to her eyes.

"Are we seriously friends? This isn't because Brittany has a thing for Michael? Or because you're mad that Noah is interested in me when he was just dating you a few days ago?" Rachel asked warily.

"Oh, for the love of-if you ask if we're really your friends one more time, I'm literally kicking you out of the car without stopping it. You're my new best friend and you're the newest member of the Unholy Trinity, replacing Quinn fucking Fab-Britt, can you answer that?" Santana called over her shoulder as her cell phone began to blare some rhythm and blues song that Rachel couldn't place at the moment.

It was old, and not the type of song that Rachel could picture Santana Lopez listening to. But, to be fair, she had never pictured Santana Lopez to be the type of person who would want to befriend her merely because she was the newest interest in Puck's love life. And she had definitely never thought that Santana would offer to give her a makeover in order to make her popular, so that it was believable they were friends and Rachel was with Puck. So maybe having a song that Rachel was pretty sure had been _The Bitch Is Back _as her ringtone wasn't all that unlikely for somebody like Santana.

"It's Quinn," Santana informed Rachel, lowering her voice to a stage whisper, which for her, was probably an actual whisper. "Britt and I have that as her personal ringtone, because it's what she is, after all," She winked at her friend.

As Brittany spoke with Quinn, Rachel relaxed in her seat, deciding that she might as well just go with whatever it was that was happening. Mike seemed aware of what was going on, after all, and that meant she had to be safe. They wouldn't dare mess with Mike and think that he would allow them to hurt Rachel.

She glanced back at the blonde who was sprawled out across the backseat, freshly changed out of her Cheerio's uniform-Santana had informed Rachel that they rarely wore the uniform outside of school because they didn't want to be treated like cheer-lebrities by everyone they ran into.

Brittany had her long, pale legs bare, except for the few inches that were covered by a pair of turquoise and white denim cut-off shorts that she'd paired with a cropped, lace-styled turquoise tank top. A pair of matching vans covered her feet while her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, a matching blueish-green bow sticking up from the top of her head. She had her turquoise and black backpack on the floor of the car, open so that her matching make-up bags could be seen as she searched through her sea colored purse, tossing her wallets out and pulling out her phone, covered in its black case.

Her belly button was revealed, showing off her mustache belly ring that matched her cross-over mustache ring. On one wrist was a mess of sports-balance bracelets and on the other was a vine-styled cuff bracelet. Her sunglasses covered her blue eyes and rose earrings were in her ears.

Santana, sitting in the next seat over, was wearing a boxy-fit, black tank top that read BITCH across her chest with tiny, red-denim shorts. She had on red wedges to show off her pedicure and her red leather bag was open, her matching wallet and her black and red make-up case tossed around, along with her red and gold sunglasses case, after Brittany had pulled out her black covered phone case that read "Inhale the goodshit-exhale the bullshit". It almost matched Brittany's own "Bands won't make her dance" case.

Her hair was pulled away from her pretty face with a thick-banded, red bow head wrap-headband. Red sunglasses covered her face. A red and black BITCH necklace hung from her neck. Around her wrist was a black BITCH bracelet to match and her red devil heart belly ring was covered by her shirt.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get a make-over from them.

"What'd Quinn have to say?" Santana asked as Brittany dropped her phone back into her bag.

"Sue kicked her off the Cheerio's. Tomorrow, she's having tryouts to replace her. But, you'll never guess _why _Sue kicked her off of the team!" Brittany said, a devious smile forming on her face.

Rachel had always thought that Brittany was rather dumb, but after spending so much time in a care with her, she had come to the conclusion that Brittany was just a perky, optimistic person who would prefer happiness over the sadness in life. And honestly, Rachel couldn't blame her for doing so.

"What? Did our precious celibacy club leader get knocked up?" Santana asked sarcastically.

"Actually, she did," Brittany deadpanned.

"No way did Finn Hudson impregnate Quinn Fabray! That guy is the biggest virgin in the entire school, and that's coming from _me," _Rachel crackled.

"You know what that means, right?" Santana asked wickedly.

"She cheated on Finn!"

"And he's gonna dump her sorry ass," Brittany smirked.

"Blondie might as well kiss her popularity goodbye," Santana smirked.

* * *

"We need to talk," Quinn Fabray said as soon as Puck had walked off of the football field, telling the coach he felt sick as soon as he'd spotted the blonde haired girl.

"What about?" He asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at the blonde.

In her short dress with the blue and pink floral print skirt and the fitted white, crochet top that was stretched across her chest, a brown braided belt broadcasting her short waist while the neckline showed off her cleavage, she was any guy's fantasy.

Add that to her legs looking better than usual outside of her cheerleading sneakers and in a pair of brown, high heeled ankle boots, a designer bag on the crook of her arm, and her blonde hair falling loose around her face, pulled back by just a blue bow into a half-down half-up style, along with her medley of cross-related jewelry and her glittering purity ring on her finger? Yeah, most guys would be drooling at the sight of her there in front of him.

But Noah Puckerman had been there and he'd done that. He'd been drunk, a foolish mistake and he'd never go back there again. Besides that, she was his best friend's girl, and he had much better prospects, rather than Quinn Fabray.

Her appearance had not been the reason he had skipped out on practice to see her. Instead, it had been the fact that she wasn't in her Cheerio's uniform, which was something that never happened with her.

"You and I had sex at that party," Quinn stated.

"Then you should probably take off that ring, because it implies otherwise," He suggested with a playful smirk, not really sure what it was that she was going to be getting at.

"Could you be serious for a minute or two?" She asked him harshly.

"Yeah, fine-what's the problem?" He asked with a sigh, running a hand through his mohawk.

This was something serious. He barely ever spoke to Quinn, and on the rare occasion when he and she did have a conversation, they traded careless insults back and forth while they acted like they couldn't stand one another. They were never serious with one another, no matter what it was that they did.

"I'm pregnant."

"Finn and you never had sex."

"No shit! It's yours," She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she looked up at him as if he were the dumbest person she had ever spoken to in her entire life.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not terminating the pregnancy, if that's what you're asking. I'm not keeping it either. I'm giving it away. If you're referring to Finn-well, he's going to know it isn't his. He isn't an idiot, no matter how stupid he might be. We might as well come out and tell the truth, because it's going to get around. Sue already heard. She kicked me off the Cheerio's," She said.

Puck knew that she was trying to appear strong.

And that was why he reached out and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm here for you. I'll help you out," He whispered.

"My parents are going to kill me," She whispered back, and that was when he heard the pain in her voice, as she broke down into tears, leaning against him for support as she cried into his chest.

"Whatever you need-I'm taking care of it, okay? You didn't get into this mess on your own," He sighed.

He was trying to appear strong, too, because he knew that he was screwed.

Mike was going to kill him when he found out what had happened. And then Finn was going to bring him back from the dead and kill him once more. Santana was going to go all crazy Latina meets Lima Heights on his ass while Brittany would stare at him with those big, innocent eyes. But the worst part would be Rachel, who would just shake her head and walk away from him, giving up on him before he'd ever really had a chance to win her over.

Everything that had been off to such a great start was now shattering around him. He had tried so hard, and he had ruined it with one drunken mistake at a party with his best friend's girl.

Like usual-like everybody had always predicted-Noah Puckerman had screwed up his entire life. He was officially a Lima Loser, and the worst part was? Even worse than dragging Quinn down with him? He was breaking Rachel's confidence, because he had finally gotten her to believe that he did care about her. She would think that it had all been a lie-a game-now that she was going to know the truth.

* * *

"Woah, Berry. Somebody looks hot," Santana gasped as Rachel came walking out of the fitting room.

"I told you we were going to make her look better than anybody else at school," Brittany smirked.

Rachel smiled to herself, wearing a solid black pleated, spandex mini skirt with a tribal print, pastel colored crop top tank top. A pair of black, over the knee socks covered her legs with teal, high heeled Mary Janes were on her feet. She held a vintage Chanel purse over her shoulder with a Coach wallet inside. Black sunglasses were holding her hair back. A dangling, pink angel-wing gemstone belly button ring hung over her flat, toned stomach.

"Perfect-I went and paid for everything, already so we're good to go. But, you're carrying your own bags," Santana stuck her tongue out, nodding towards the two shopping bags from Charlotte Rousse that Rachel now had to add to her two Forever 21 bags, her Juicy Couture bag, her two Wet Seal bags and her three Victoria's Secret bags.

Of course, Santana had her own supply of bags-two from Pac Sun, three from Forever 21, one from Juicy and four from Victoria's Secret. Brittany had three from Victoria's Secret as well, one from Vanity, one from Forever 21, one from Juicy, one from Charlotte, two from Wet Seal and one from Pac Sun.

They'd been shopping for hours and had yet to take a break, deciding that they needed to make sure they got everything done before they were too tired to move anymore.

"Alright," Rachel sighed, acting as though she were bothered by having to carry her own stuff. "Let's go grab something to eat, okay?" She suggested.

"Perfect-we need to get people to carry our bags. Ugh, I wish I had a boyfriend." Santana complained as they made their way from the store, towards the food court.

"I couldn't agree more," Brittany whined. "Rachel, why didn't you force Puck and Mike to come? They'd do anything for you," she pointed out, readjusting her hold on the bags as she walked.

"Noah's isn't my boyfriend just-"

"Holy shit! We _need _those," Brittany declared as the girls walked by a jewelry store.

"Brit, my arms are going to fall off if I add any more weight to them." Santana sighed, signaling that they weren't stopping. She never said no to Brittany, after all.

"We can just wear them," Brittany insisted.

"Brittany, let's just go get something to eat and-"

"You guys go. I'm gonna get these necklaces. I'll meet you there. Get me a smoothie, San?" She asked.

"It's your own funeral," Santana sighed, shrugging at Rachel as much as she could under the weight of her bags as she started towards the food court again, Rachel flashing Brittany a concerned look before she hurried after her friend.

* * *

"Mike? I did a really stupid thing," Puck sighed as his sort-of-friend answered the phone.

"Dude, did you hook up with a Cheerio already? I finally got Rachel to consider giving you a chance. You can't do shit like that!" Mike scolded him, shaking his head in disdain.

"No-it's worth than that...I..um, remember that part after the first game? The one where Finn went straight home because he was depressed about losing the game? It was a really bad loss, and Quinn was complaining to everybody that she felt fat? You went home early because you had plans with Rachel the next day?" Puck asked.

"The one at Azimio's place? Yeah, I remember that. You left the same time as me, because you were worried about guy's taking advantage of Quinn because Santana and Brittany got her completely wasted, didn't you? Wait a second...you left with Quinn...dude, please tell me that you took her home and then you went to your own house where you went to sleep alone for a change," Mike asked, tilting his head back and clenching his eyes shut.

"I took Quinn to my house-but it wasn't because I wanted to hook up with her or anything. I had her come over because I knew how her parents would react to how wasted she was-you know how they get when she's anything less than picture perfect. I didn't want them to kill her or something. But, then she was complaining about how she felt fat and I was drunk and I was telling her she wasn't and one thing led to another and...we hooked up," Puck said, his voice becoming a low whisper at the end of his speech, cutting him off before he made himself seem like an even bigger idiot.

"Well, I mean, that's stupid of you, because she's Finn's girl and all, but it was before Rachel. She can't really get mad at you because she knows about your past. I mean, she does have this weird need to try and compete with Quinn, but it doesn't matter. She doesn't have a right to get mad, and it's not like she needs to know that you guys hooked up. You were both drunk, right? You said that it didn't mean anything, so whatever. It's pretty much like all your other hookups where you don't even remember the girl's name anymore. As long as it's over, she'll be fine," Mike explained.

"Mike, you don't get it...there's more to it than that. Quinn and I hooked up and it was just a one time thing and all, but...Mike, she's pregnant, and the baby isn't Finn's. He doesn't even know we hooked up, that's why she's still wearing the ring. But, dude...I messed up, big time-not just with Rachel, but with my entire life. I knocked up my best friend's girl and ruined her life and my own, and I messed up things with Rachel," He sighed.

"Rachel's going to be devastated. You don't get how hard she's had it, do you? Did you think this was all some sort of a game? Where you could play with her feelings and then move on when you were done with her? Puck, this is low, even for you. You need to tell Rachel and then leave her alone." Mike said, no emotion to his voice.

He couldn't believe that he had actually believed that Puck cared about Rachel and wanted to be with her. How had he been so stupid? Now he had gotten Rachel into a situation that was going to lead to heartbreak.

He hated himself for what he had done.

* * *

"Here," Brittany said, holding her hands out to reveal two necklaces, each a piece of a heart that, when put together, would read BEST BITCHES. She already had her own chain around her neck, the right side of the heart.

"I love these," Santana snickered, grabbing the left side and immediately placing it around her neck.

"These are perfect," Rachel laughed, grabbing the last remaining piece-the middle section-and wrapping it around her neck, doing the clasp effortlessly before handing Brittany her strawberry-banana smoothie before turning back to her own blueberry-pomegranate one, taking a long sip of the purple-colored blend.

"Any word on who knocked up Quinn, yet?" Brittany asked, sliding into a seat besides Rachel. "Because if Sue knows, it's got to be out to the rest of the school," she replied.

"Nobody even knows that she's pregnant yet. I was checking out Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Nothing's up yet. We all know that even with her little mistake, Sue's not going to turn her back on Quinn completely. I think that she might be afraid of Quinn's parents. I know that I'm afraid of them," Santana shrugged.

"I feel bad for her, in a way. Well, she's a bitch, so I don't, but I mean-it's gonna suck that everything she's worked for is gone now, and she doesn't have a single friend to help her," Rachel shrugged.

"She cheated on her boyfriend and she didn't use protection. Therefore, she deserves whatever she gets," Santana shrugged, taking another sip of her chocolate milkshake. "I don't feel bad for anybody who asks for what they get," She explained.

"I still-hold up, Noah's calling me," Rachel said, fishing her phone from her purse and walking away from the table. "Hello?" She asked.

"Rach? Listen...I need to tell you something, and if you never want to talk to me again, that's fine and I'll understand, but I just wanted you to hear it from me," He said frantically.

"Noah, calm down. I'm sure that whatever it is that you did isn't that bad," She giggled.

"Quinn's pregnant."

"I know...what does that have to do with you?" She asked, her laughter coming to a halt as she leaned against a wall.

"I'm the father."

And with that, she hung up and raced back over to the table where Santana and Brittany sat, unclasping her necklace as she moved. She reached the table and dropped it down with a clank, grabbing her bags in a rush.

"What's going on? Puck make a booty call?" Santana teased.

"Why'd you take the necklace off? Don't you want everybody to know we're friends?" Brittany pouted.

"You guys don't have to be my friends anymore. Noah and I aren't going to be anything, ever. He's the father of Quinn's baby and I was foolish to think that he might actually care about me." Rachel replied.

"Because he made a mistake, we aren't friends anymore?" Santana raised her eyebrows.

"We like you-not the fact that you're with Puck," Brittany said.

"Sit your ass down and tell me why it bothers you so much that a guy you aren't dating is having a baby with some other girl," Santana snapped.

Rachel sighed, dropping her bags and falling into her seat, accepting her necklace from Brittany's hands.

"I know it's stupid, but I actually did like him. I just needed him to prove that he could settle down for me. We'd talked about it and he knew how I felt on the matter. With this...it's just like-he's having a baby with another girl, and that means he needs to be there for Quinn. I can't interfere with that and it means we can't happen. Besides, I'll never be as special to him as Quinn is, with that baby in her stomach," Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah, well, Puck's a dick. Quinn's a slut. You're sexy and tomorrow, you are going to walk into school wearing your hot new clothes and then you will go and try out for the Cheerio's. You will make the team and take Quinn's spot in the social structure of this school with Britt and I at your side. Mike's going to be there every step of the way and Puck is going to see what he's missing. He's going to regret what he did and he's going to come groveling on his knees for your forgiveness. And Quinn is going to be green with envy about how popular you become and how sexy you are," Santana instructed.

"I wonder how Finn's dealing with the fact that his best friend knocked up his girlfriend?" Brittany frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I'm sure he'll be needing a shoulder to cry on, the same as Rachel," Santana said wickedly. "And everybody knows that a shoulder to cry on can easily become a dick to ride on," She winked at Rachel.

"I'm not into Finn," Rachel protested, shaking her head.

"Who said anything about being into him? You're going to fuck him and then dump him. It means nothing. After all, the best way to get over somebody is to get under somebody else," Santana shrugged innocently.

"You're horrible," Rachel gasped.

"But I've never suffered from a broken heart," Santana said, raising her arms into the air and waving them around as if in celebration.

"Rae, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, and you know that. But, being with somebody else is going to show Puck that you don't need him to have a relationship and it'll show that you won't be waiting around for him. And if it's Finn, it's really going to kick him where it hurts," Brittany said sweetly.

* * *

Puck sighed, sitting there alone in his bedroom, pissed at himself for being such an idiot.

He never should have gotten together with Quinn in the first place. He never should have been with any of the girls that he had been with. But he definitely shouldn't have been with Quinn.

Not only was she his best friend's girl, but she was always trying to make him feel like shit. Besides, neither had been able to know what was really going on. And she was the only girl that had never meant anything to him. He didn't like her, he wasn't attracted to her, and he hadn't wanted to sleep with her.

But he had, and now he had to deal with the horrible aftermath of what he had done. He had slept with his best friend's girlfriend and he had gotten her pregnant. He had ruined his chances with the only girl he really wanted to be with, just as she was starting to give him a chance. He was worse than his father had ever been, and now he had to pay for what he had done. He was the only one who had to deal with what he had done, because he was the only one who had to deal with it.

Sure, Quinn had to deal with it, but she had to deal with it in her own way, until the doctor's appointments started. She still needed to tell Finn. They had agreed not to make it a big deal and involve one another in each other's lives until the doctor's bills started coming. Until Quinn had to tell her parents. Until the rest of the school knew for a fact that she was pregnant and Finn wasn't the father. Of course, as soon as Finn knew the truth and Puck got the shit beat out of him, the entire school would know. But, for that night, they were stuck dealing with their pain alone.

Puck had never felt more ashamed of something he had done in his life.

All he wanted was to go back in time and change what had happened.

He wished he'd never even gone to that party. He never should have offered Quinn a ride home. He should have allowed her to be freaked at by her parents. He shouldn't have allowed her into his bedroom. He just shouldn't have slept with her.

He should have been smarter.

But he hadn't been, he hadn't done the right thing, and now he had to deal with the consequences.

* * *

Mike felt like an idiot.

He had allowed his best friend to be with a guy who wasn't any good for her-he had allowed her to even consider it, even if she hadn't completely gone through with it yet.

And it had ended up with everything blowing up in his face. He was stuck with a best friend who was going to be heartbroken in no time and an urge to beat in the face of the best football player on the team. There was no way for anybody to win with what Puck had done. He messed things up for everybody involved.

It was foolish of Mike to believe that Puck could ever love anybody or care about anybody. All Puck cared about was fulfilling his needs and he had probably only wanted Rachel because no other guy had gotten her before, so he figured it would make himself out to be some sort of hero. And Mike had played right into his plan by believing all of his lies about his feelings.

Of course, that wasn't fair either.

Maybe Puck really did care about Rachel, but it didn't change the facts.

He had helped Quinn cheat on Finn and now Quinn was pregnant with Puck's kid.

That meant that Puck could never offer Rachel all of his love, because he would be stuck dealing with Quinn Fabray and their child together. Rachel would come second fiddle to Quinn until the baby was born, and even afterwards, whether they kept the baby or not, Puck would always have a soft spot for the blonde who mothered his first child. So, Puck could never be with Rachel. Mike wouldn't allow it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Saved By The Music  
Glee AU Fan Fiction  
Chapter 6: After Math**

_**A/N: I didn't mean that the entire show was cliched. Glee isn't cliche-d in every aspect. If you understood what I meant when I said that, you would know that I meant the CHARACTERS were cliche-d in their personalities, and not even all of them. While some of their characters were over done in movies and TV shows, at least they were people that were realistic. Like Quinn-the popular, blonde, captain of the cheerleading team who made one mistake and messed up her life. Puck, the bad-boy rebel who feared he'd be just like his dad, and out of that fear, started down a road that would make him exactly like his father. They're overdone, but not cliche. Rachel? She was cliche-d and a stereotype. Just because she was a 'loser' who was constantly mocked by the popular kids, it didn't mean she had to have no friends until Finn came along. I at least expected when I started to watch the show that Kurt and Mercedes would accept her, but that wasn't the case. My friends all agree that pretty much, the cliche part of the show were the friendships. The popular blonde cheerleader, the airhead blonde and the slutty cheerleader? The golden boy and the bad boy? The teen gay and the only black female in the school? They just took most things too far when writing it for dramatic effect and while it worked for the story, it made the characters hard to relate to. So you people can review saying that all I'm doing is making it so Rachel had friends, but that was pretty much the entire purpose of the story, so I'm not getting your frustration. And explain to me how I could write a puckleberry story without the cliche-d plot line of the popular bad boy falling for the unpopular good girl? I wasn't changing their personalities completely-they wouldn't be Puckleberry anymore if I did something like that. All in all, I pretty much wrote this story because my best friend and I thought it was UNREALISTIC that Rachel had no friends before Finn came along. It put her into a cliche-d loser girl type of character which made the entire Puckleberry relationship overly cliched. The changes I made were the ones my friend and I talked about when we were saying ways that RACHEL'S CHARACTER ALONE could have become less of a cliche. We were not talking about the show in general and I don't think that the show is cliched overall. Full of stereotypes? Definitely, but not a giant mess of cliches. **_

_**A/N2: As for my putting Babygate in the story. It's overdone, because it's something that's ON THE SHOW. I'm not taking it out, and personally, I feel like my story would have had Puck and Rachel get together within one or two chapters without it, which would have led for a boring story without any drama. I like reading a story with drama and I make my fanfictions something I would want to read. I also like Santana and Rachel being friends-I think they bring out the best in one another. And I'm not going to have them not be friends just because Santana said something that was completely in character for her to say in regards to Rachel moving on. Seriously, one of my best friends told me a similar piece of advice one time. You don't have to listen to it or follow through with it. I didn't. I put babygate into my stories because honestly, I don't think it's fair to make Beth cease to exist merely because Puck had the baby with Quinn. I'm writing this story and it's going to include babygate. Rachel's going to get over the initial hurt. It's overdone, yes, but it's just a part of the show and, personally, it was a part of the show that I actually liked, despite there being a heavy focus on Quick because of it. It showed a softer side of Puck and a change in him that carried on throughout the series. **_

_**A/N3: I seriously hate wasting all this time in my story to reply to reviewers, but when the people who have something negative to say that I feel compelled to reply to are guest reviewers, this is what I have to resort to. I'm sorry to people that read this entire thing and had none of it apply to what they've been thinking about my story. I just like to make sure my readers feel answered, and I know that came out as snarky and rude, but that's just me. I'm confident in my story and I won't be changing it. These stories are something I created and I'm proud of them. I will not be changing them for anybody. I'm sorry if you don't like where it's going, but it's going to be Puckleberry Endgame. There just has to be some bumps in the road. Once you make it through struggles, you know you can get through things together. It's the way that people learn how to have a healthy relationship. It shows that they can fight, argue, but love one another enough to talk it out and work through their problems. It's a sign of real devotion to a relationship, and, in my eyes, it's a sign of true love. I base my views of love, friendship and pretty much everything, on what I have in my life. Maybe they don't agree with your own views, but they are what my opinions are. Sorry for the endless author's note. Moving onto the story now.**_

* * *

**_"_**Get in, loser," Santana was honking on the horn when Rachel exited her house the next morning, dressed in one of the outfits they'd picked out the previous night.

Her black, pleated mini skirt with the thin lines creating a plaid design swayed around the top of her legs as she moved. A red, zipper front cropped tank top stretched out across her chest. Black, thin, knee-high socks covered most of her legs while a pair of red, double-strapped Mary Jane heels added a few inches to her short demeanor.

She held a red satchel bag on the crook of her arm, holding a red wallet and red make-up bag, with her sunglasses case and her Busy Talking Shit phone case as well.

her freshly ombre-d hair hung in loose curls around her face, blunt bangs fluffed to land just a few inches above her eyelashes. Red feather-drop earrings hung from her ears and her gold Star of David necklace hung from her neck. A black rose belly ring bounced against her flat torso as she slid into the passenger's seat of the car, smiling at her friends.

"Did I do alright?" She asked.

"Alright? Girl, you're smoking," Santana laughed, tossing her head back as she broke out into a fit of her usual cackles. "Don't be so self conscious, got it? Guys can detect it like dogs detect fear," She instructed, suddenly serious.

"Especially high school boys. And Coach Sue, and if she thinks you're self-conscious. it's going to affect you getting on the team," Brittany spoke up from the back seat.

"Do you guys seriously think I'l make it?" She wondered, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.

"I'm as sure that you're going to make the team as I am that Mike's going to drape his sweatshirt around you as soon as he sees you," Santana said, eyes located on the road ahead of her.

"And I'm sure that you'll make it-as sure as I am that Puck's going to be unable to speak as soon as he spots you, because he thinks your look good in animal sweaters. With this much skin showing? He's going to be in a lot of pain today," Brittany shrugged.

Rachel found herself smiling at the thought, even if she knew it was wrong.

Puck was having a child with Quinn. He was the father of the child that was in Quinn's stomach. They had to be together-he couldn't have another girl offering him any distractions. His focus _needed _to be on her, because he needed to give his child all of his attention and devotion. It wasn't fair to Quinn or the baby for Puck to be worrying about a new girlfriend.

It would make him like the father he was always swearing he wanted to be nothing like.

Maybe-just maybe-if Quinn decided not to keep the baby, the two of them could try again after their child was born. But, as long as that baby was in Quinn's stomach, Puck was not supposed to worry about any other girl.

Still, the idea that he had called her and let her know the truth, before anybody else-even Finn-had learned the truth, showed that he did care about her. Maybe he had made a stupid mistake before they had been anything more than a bully and victim, but that didn't mean his feelings towards her afterwards were all a lie.

She could remember that, but she couldn't focus on it anymore than she could wait around for him, hoping that when this scandal was over and they had decided if they were keeping the baby or not, that Puck would want to try again with Rachel, rather than taking the easy route and returning to his adventures with every member of the cheerleading team, or staying with Quinn out of mere guilt, or because of the love that he would only feel for her because of the baby.

The baby that would always connect them to one another, no matter who Puck claimed to love or what he said.

They would always have that special connection, and Rachel would do well to remember that.

She wasn't going to be that girl, the one that was a high-school home wrecker. She refused to be the other woman in a relationship, even if Puck didn't seem to have the same concerns about being the other man in a relationship. '

She could count, and she knew that relationships were meant for two. That meant she wasn't going to try to get involved with somebody in a relationship, no matter how badly she might want to be involved with Noah Puckerman.

And she had to stop thinking that, because she _couldn't _want to be in a relationship with him. A relationship with him wasn't going to do any good for anybody. It wasn't going to be good for her, because she'd have to share him with Quinn. It wasn't going to be good for Quinn, because she was the mother of his child and needed all of his attention. And it wasn't fair for him to have to add another person to where his attention needed to be when he already had to focus on school, work, Quinn and a baby.

No, whatever she had started to feel for Noah Puckerman-it was all to be forgotten about.

He was Quinn Fabray's baby-daddy. She was his baby-mama. Rachel didn't have a place in their little family, whether it was happy or not. Rachel belonged on the outside, with her friends, and eventually, with another guy in a different relationship. She couldn't concern herself with Puck and Quinn, no matter how hard it was to make sure she didn't worry about them.

* * *

"What the hell are you wearing?" Mike asked, walking towards Rachel, Brittany and Santana, already shrugging out of his jacket. "You look cold-here, wear my jacket," He insisted, holding it out to her.

"Michael, I'm fine. I'm not cold, and this is an appropriate outfit choice for school. I'm as covered up as Santana is, and even more so than some of the other girls at school." Rachel sighed, shaking her head as she refused his jacket.

He frowned, glaring at Santana to signal that he blamed her for this change in Rachel's wardrobe, before putting his jacket back on and pulling the tiny brunette into a hug.

"I don't like the way the guys are looking at you-like you're a piece of meat," he sighed.

Mike had always been protective of Rachel. That was how their friendship had began-Mike not liking the way people judged her so quickly without giving her a real chance.

They decided that a girl who loved Broadway just had to be a freak, because they didn't even know what Broadway was. They branded her as a loser because she had talented, believed she would make it out of Lima, and was constantly making sure everybody knew about how amazing and incredible she was.

Mike didn't think that those were bad qualities to have. He thought that confidence was a good thing, and he found it a sexy quality in any and all girls. Believing in yourself was the first step to success, in his eyes, and he was proud of Rachel for not allowing the simple minded people at their school to allow her to change her ways.

Rachel was a strong, independent woman and she didn't need anybody by her side in order to succeed.

The last thing that she needed in her life was a man-but if she had one, it was just going to be an addition to everything else she had. It wasn't a necessity, but it was a pleasant change.

Rachel's confidence and her self-empowerment gave Mike faith for how she would be able to last with seeing Puck and Quinn together, once the entire school found out about the truth father of the baby. Which he was sure was going to happen soon, as Finn had broken up with Quinn as soon as she'd told him that she was pregnant.

Clearly he wasn't as big of an idiot as everybody had always thought he was, since he didn't even give her a second to come up with some lie about how she could be pregnant without them having had sex. He told her she was a cheating bitch and that she had gotten what she deserved before he'd hung up on her, refusing to answer any of her other phone calls. Then he had called Puck and complained to him about Quinn's cheating, claiming he would punch in the face of whoever this guy was.

Mike wanted to make sure he was there when Finn learned the truth, because he wanted to get a few punches in himself. The only thing stopping him from kicking Puck's ass was the knowledge that Rachel wasn't angry at him. She wasn't heartbroken. She wasn't even broken. She was just sad.

She didn't even doubt that Puck had meant what he'd told her about how he'd felt. She just thought that Quinn needed him all to herself for the time being and she was going to step aside for the girl that had tormented her most of her high school existence.

"Hey, man-hands! Would you mind moving so that I can get through? Some of us have people to see and places to be," Quinn Fabray's queen-bitch voice rang out from behind them.

Mike rolled his eyes. He should have known that Quinn was still going to be acting like the queen of the world, at least until she had a reason to believe that her popularity was truly gone with the loss of her Cheerio's uniform and her quarterback boyfriend there to defend and protect her.

She was popular because she was blonde, pretty, smart, hot, a cheerleader, and a bitch. People feared her and respected her. She had Finn Hudson wrapped around her finger and that offered her protection and a relationship people were jealous of.

She seemed to be perfect and flawless.

Nobody really liked her, though, and at the first sign of a weakness, everybody was going to turn on her. They had all been waiting for the day when she would fall and crumble to nothing since the second she'd first walked through the halls of McKinley, after all.

Dressed in a denim tank top dress, cinched at the waist by a yellow belt with all yellow accessories and her hair pulled back by a yellow bow, she looked like the essence of innocence. Especially with the golden crosses on her wrist, neck, and ears. But, the purity ring was missing and that meant she must have told her parents-unless she was just expecting the entire school to know and had slipped it off before entering the building. Either way, it was a sign that her innocence and purity were gone.

"Preggos, did you really just call my girl man-hands as if she's the one who needs to be mocked?" Santana asked, crossing her arms as she glared at the blonde.

"Are you taking Rupaul's side over my own?" Quinn asked in her holier-than-thou voice that Mike was sick and tired of hearing.

"She's our friend, Quinn. You're just mean, all the time. And you cheated on Finn." Brittany spoke up.

"Guys-just drop it. She has enough going on right now. Let's just...go, okay?"

"Are you seriously telling us to walk away after she just insulted you? Are you going to defend her after all the hell she's put you through, just because she's suddenly going through a hard time?" Santana asked, turning towards Rachel in disbelief.

"Well, it would be unfair of my to allow you two to insult her for my revenge when I forgave the both of you for your own part in my own personal cycle of hell, wouldn't it?" She asked innocently, hooking her arms through the two cheerleaders. "Let's just go," She insisted.

And Mike was only a little bit shocked when Santana allowed herself to get pulled away by the girl that was much smaller and so much weaker. After all, Rachel had a way of getting whatever she wanted, all of the time.

It was something he had learned after their many years of friendships. Rachel was always going to come out on top, because she would always get her way. She was so stubborn that it made her seem like a bit of a brat. But with two fathers who spoiled her rotten, buying her whatever it was that she wanted, it was hard to imagine her coming out as anything other than a princess.

Even Mike had taken to just giving in and allowing her to have her way. It was easier than trying to fight with the genius of a girl who had the largest vocabulary out of anybody he'd ever met.

"What the hell just happened?" Quinn screeched.

"You got defended by a girl that you make fun of whenever you get the chance. While your so-called best friends were ready to tear you a new one just because they never really liked you, the girl that you've tormented for years stood up for you and said that your life was hard enough at the moment, and that she forgave you. Even after you entered the school and insulted her twice out of the two sentences you managed to get out before they walked away. You know, Quinn, people might feel bad for you, if you weren't such a god damn bitch all of the time," Mike shook his head in disgust before turning on his heel and taking off after Rachel.

He had talked to Brittany and Santana the previous night and they had decided that while Rachel was being mature and strong about the entire ordeal, they couldn't guarantee that Puck would handle the situation with the same grace.

So, they had decided that she was not to be left alone while at school, until it was clear to Puck that Rachel would not be talking to him. They had made up a schedule to ensure that she was never alone, and Mike was late for his first shift, because he'd gotten caught up in telling off Quinn and in his amazement at the way Rachel had managed to befriend the biggest bitch in the entire school.

When he reached Rachel's locker, he was stuck with the sight of Puck talking to Rachel.

He cursed under his breath, walking towards her and stopping behind her, opting to listen for a second before making himself known and taking her away from the conversation.

"Rach, can we talk? Please? I just...I'm sorry, okay? But everything I told you? That was all true."

"Noah, I understand that you meant what was said between the two of us for these past couple of days. Whether or not you meant it, is regardless in this situation. The problem at hand is that you got Quinn pregnant, and that means your responsibility belongs with her. You need to focus all of your attention on her and your baby, because she needs you, alright? Maybe, depending on how things work out after your child is born, there will be a chance for us. But we can't even think about that possibility until this situation is over and done with. Now, you should go and find Quinn. She wasn't wearing her purity ring, and something tells me she'd only take that off if her father insisted that she was no longer fit to wear it," Rachel cut him off form his speech.

"She hasn't even told-"

"She needs to tell Finn, and I believe that you should be there with her when she tells him. He's going to come looking for you anyways, so you might as well handle things right then and there, without causing some big scene that is unnecessary and uncalled for. You made your bed, and now it's time for you to lie in it. I'm not angry with you for what you did, as I have no right to be mad. However, I am disappointed at how you're acting about this entire ordeal. You need to grow up and handle things maturely. You're the one who made the mistake, forcing you to grow up sooner than needed," She shrugged, slamming her locker shut.

She didn't wait for an answer as she turned around, coming face to face with Mike.

"Michael! Perfect-would you mind taking me to my first class?" She asked, looking up at him sweetly.

"Sure, Rach-anytime," He smiled at her, flashing a warning look at Puck, that he hoped got the message across that that would be the last time he talked to Rachel for a very long time, with the exception of when it would be necessary in the Glee club-and Mike was going to make sure that it wasn't necessary very often, to ensure that Rachel didn't fall under Puck's spell once more.

He wasn't taking anymore chances when it came to the safety of her heart. He'd messed up once, and he wasn't planning on doing so again. This time, he was going to be a real best friend who did what was best for her. This time, he was going to do things right.

* * *

"I need a place to stay," Quinn said as soon as Puck found her that morning.

Puck was under the impression that she was going to be throwing curve balls at him whenever he came to talk to her for the next nine months, since this was the second time she had done so in the past two days. It had been less than twenty four hours, actually, and she was already telling him something else that he'd need to take care of.

"I told my parents, because they asked why I wasn't wearing my uniform. When I explained I was kicked off of the team, they were ready to call Sue. I needed to tell them, because Sue would tell them anyways. My dad kicked me out. I packed my stuff last night. It's all in my car now. My mom convinced him to let me stay home last night because it was too late for me to be out on my own when he told me I was no longer his daughter." Quinn said, lowering her head.

"You can come stay with me," He said, awkwardly reaching back to rub at the back of his neck.

He and Quinn had never been friends before, but now they were suddenly having a kid together. They were going to be living together. They had gone from hating one another and putting up with one another for the sole purpose of her dating his best friend, to having a child together and having to act as if they cared about one another.

"We'll need to tell Finn," She went on, as if she had figured he'd give her that offer.

Knowing her, she probably had assumed that.

"Alright. Do you want to go and tell him now?" He asked her.

"We might as well. The school isn't that stupid. Somebody's bound to have figured it out by now." Quinn sighed, running a hand through her hair. It wasn't as sexy on her as it was when Rachel did it.

But Puck couldn't compare the blonde to the brunette. He was having a baby with Quinn, and that meant he needed to focus on her. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted.

Rachel had told him so herself-he needed to grow up and be mature, facing his mistakes like a man.

So, he followed Quinn down the hallway like a mindless puppy, until they came to Finn's locker.

"What the fuck do you want?" The taller boy asked when he turned around, glaring at the blonde who was standing before him. "I'm not talking to her Puck-I know you're trying to be a good friend and all, but she-"

"Puck's the father," Quinn blurted out, no emotion to her tone as she quickly said the words.

And just as fast as the words had left her mouth, Finn's fist was crashing into Puck's face as he informed him that he wasn't talking to him, ever again. Finn told Puck that their friendship was over-that he was done with the both of them-before he stormed off down the hallway, not even bothering to look back at the pair.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Quinn said with a dull cheerfulness to her tone.

Puck just looked at her and shook his head as the bell rang. He couldn't be around her any longer. He wasn't sure how he'd deal with her for nine months, and probably longer, since he doubted her parents would take her back after the baby was born. He didn't want to deal with her for the next nine minutes.

So, he muttered something about having to get to class and took off towards the auditorium.

Maybe Mike didn't want him to talk to Rachel, but he could still hide out in her favorite place and watch her sing. That wouldn't be acting like an immature playboy. He was just watching a performance, after all. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't doing anything inappropriately when he had a pregnant...whatever it was that Quinn was to him.

It was innocent, he decided as he slid into the back row of the dark auditorium. Sure enough, Rachel was on the stage, sitting at the piano as she played a few notes on the keys. Brittany was sitting in the front row, her blonde hair barely visible from where Puck was, as Rachel started her song.

_"Don't look at me, you've got a girl at home and everybody knows that-everybody knows that/Don't look at me, you've got a girl at home and everybody knows that/I don't even know her, but I feel a responsibility/To do what's upstanding and right/It's kinda like a code-yeah/And you've been getting closer and closer/And crossing so many lines/And it would be a fine proposition, if I was a stupid girl/ But honey, I am no one's exception, this I have previously learned," _She sang out.

And, as every other time she sang, there was so much passion in her voice that it made Puck feel everything that she was feeling as she sang.

He knew the song was about him-any idiot could have figured that much out.

He knew that she was saying he shouldn't be looking at her when he had Quinn, even if that wasn't what he wanted. Everybody knew that he was the father-or, they would soon enough-and Rachel wouldn't be the girl who stole Quinn's baby daddy.

Maybe Rachel didn't like her, but she still was going to do what was right. She always had to do what was right. It was who she was. It was some kind of code that she seemed to live by-to always be the responsible one.

But, Puck was tempting her, getting her closer and closer to crossing the lines she had drawn for herself to know her limits. It might be the type of thing any other girl would go for, but Rachel wasn't stupid. She was smarter than most girls. And she knew that she wasn't going to be anybody's exception. She felt like she had learned that lesson from the one guy who would be the exception to that fact.

_"So don't look at me, you've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that-everybody knows that/Don't look at me, you've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that-everybody knows that/I see you, turn off your phone/And now you've got me alone/And I say, don't look at me/You've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that-everybody knows that/I just wanna make sure, you understand perfectly/You're the type of man who makes me sad/While she waits up, you chase down the newest thing/And take for granted what you have/And it would be a fine proposition, if I was a stupid girl/And yeah, I might go with it/If I hadn't once been just like her," _She went on with her song, unknowingly letting him into her emotions.

She didn't want to be the girl that he went to because he wanted a taste of something knew. She didn't want to be the escape he had from the stress of his serious relationship.

She didn't realize that she wouldn't be that to him. She didn't realize that she was so much more than she thought she was, at least, when it came to him. She didn't realize the love that he had for her and how it killed him that he had ruined things, just as much as it killed him that he was starting to develop feelings.

He had never been the feeling type of person. Normally, once he started to feel something, he got out of the situation. He hated that he suddenly had feelings and he hated that they were for her even more, because she had always been his biggest weakness, even before he knew what love was. Before he had fallen for her and decided that one day, he was going to prove he was worthy of her.

She had always had a way of bringing out the best in him.

_"Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that/Everybody knows that/Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that/Everybody knows that/I see you, turn off your phone/And now you've got me alone/And I say, don't look at me/You've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that/Everybody knows that/Call a cab, lose my number you're about to lose your girl/Call a cab, lose my number-let's consider this lesson learned/Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home and everybody knows that/Everybody knows that/Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home/And everybody knows that/Everybody knows that/Wanna see you, turn off your phone/And tell her-you're coming home/Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home and everybody knows that/ Everybody knows that/Don't look at me/You've got a girl at home and everybody knows that/Everybody knows that," _She went on.

It killed Puck that she really was going to throw away everything she had because she felt like she owed Quinn something.

Quinn had never been anything other than a bitch to Rachel and he was sure that she was still going to treat Rachel like crap. But here was Rachel, making sure it was known that she had no interest in Puck, even if the brunette didn't know that Puck was there, listening to her.

As long as Quinn was pregnant, Puck was not supposed to look at Rachel, because he had another girl. He needed to be there for Quinn, so he had to stop whatever it was he was doing with Rachel. No more staring. No more cornering her for conversations. No more phone calls. No more excuses to talk to her.

He had to focus on Quinn, because that was what Rachel wanted, and he'd do anything for her.

"_It would be a fine proposition/If I haven't once been just like her," _Rachel finished the song.

Puck wasn't sure-but he felt like that ending was a signal.

She had thought she was Puck's girl, just unofficially, without the labels having been officially given out yet. And then she had learned that Quinn was the one who had truly won him.

At least, that was what Puck hoped she meant, because it gave him a little more faith in the future of the two of them, then if he thought she was just singing the lyrics or if she had once been in Quinn's position because she'd been in another relationship with a guy who had cheated. And since he knew she had never been in a relationship before, it was between her singing empty lyrics, or finding an emotion she had felt to suit what she was singing.

And Rachel never just sang a song to sing a song. It was always something that she could feel emotion to with every single lyric that left her mouth. With all the songs she knew, she could pick a song that described her exact situation. There was no reason to settle for one that sort of understood what she was going through. She never did anything half-ass.


	7. Chapter 7

**Saved By The Music  
Glee AU Fan Fiction  
Chapter 7: Rachel's Makeover**

Rachel Berry walked into the choir room, ducking her head at the sight of a fighting Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman.

Ever since the pair had officially gotten together a week ago, they were always fighting. It was a rare occurrence for the couple to ever be seen when not arguing, and it was usually because of Quinn ranting and rambling about something Puck was doing wrong while he tried his best to get her whatever disgusting combination of food the blonde was craving or give her the money she needed for her doctor's bills. Everybody thought that Quinn was asking too much of him, but they all were too afraid of both members of the couple to say anything aloud about Quinn being so high maintenance.

As the days had passed on, Rachel had risen slowly form her place at the bottom of the social pyramid and taken a comfortable spot towards the top, mainly because of her newfound confidence and her makeover, but it also had a lot to do with her two new best friends, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce who were still begging the pretty brunette to try out for the Cheerio's and take Quinn's vacated spot on the team, since her size would make her an idea flyer and they already knew that she was an excellent dancer and gymnast.

Another thing that had been happening as each day went by was a decrease in Quinn's own popularity and power. She was losing her ability to part the crowded hallways as though they were the read sea and she knew it. That was probably another reason she was always picking fights with Puck. She knew that he would give her whatever she wanted from him, and that meant she had power over somebody, even if it was a boy who pretty much had to be nice to her.

Rachel took a seat in the front row, leaning into her bag to get out her homework. She'd taken to spending all of her study halls in the choir room in an attempt to dodge the hawking eyes of the prying male population of the school who seemed to enjoy her make-over just a little too much for Rachel's comfort zone.

She knew that if Mike was around, they at least attempted to keep the staring to a minimum, but the truth of the matter was that Puck couldn't always be there and the Puckerman dibs did nothing for her now that Puck was in a relationship with Quinn. That meant that to the males at the school, she was fair game and anybody could feel free to stare at her long legs, comment on her chest, slap her ass, or make a vulgar sexual remark when she passed them in the hallways. And then did all of the above on a daily basis.

"Quinn, will you just stop it already? I don't want to fight with you," Puck snapped, pulling at his mohawk in frustration.

"Why?" Quinn asked, narrowing her eyes at him expectantly, sneaking a warning glance across the room at Rachel, who was pretending to mindlessly work on her Trigonometry homework while really eavesdropping and watching the scene from the corner of her eyes. It was clear that Quinn was signaling that Puck should be on best behavior in the presence on Quinn's replacement.

"Because," Puck said through clenched teeth. "I love you," He muttered, the words sounding forced and untrue.

Still, they killed Rachel to hear and the immediately dropped her gaze back to her work, feeling her eyes watering.

"Good," Quinn said harshly, grabbing onto his hand and pulling him from the room. He allowed himself to be dragged, sneaking a longing glance back at the brunette, Jewish teenage trying not to allow her tears to fall.

There was silence in the room, but Rachel knew that Santana and Brittany had entered right after the newest high school couple had left. She knew that they had each taken a seat on either side of her, wrapping their arms loosely around her. She knew that they were trying to be comforting, but all she really wanted was for the entire world to just go away.

She wanted to be left alone to mourn the loss of a boy who was never really hers to begin with. And she didn't want to picture him walking with his arm around the waist of a still slender Quinn Fabray dressed in a strapless white and black flowered dress with a brown belt around the waist, matching brown jacket covering her bare shoulders with a pair of matching flat loafers. A designer back in brown leather was swung over her back with a designer wallet inside as well. Her phone case was just as expensive as the rest of her outfit and she had a hat balanced on her blonde hair. A golden inifnity necklace, something Puck had bought for her to replace the absent cross that her father had taken from her when he'd kicked her out, hung around her neck.

A glance at the doorway showed that the couple hadn't gone all that far. They'd managed to leave the choir room, but they were fighting about something right again, almost directly outside of the door. Rachel was sure they'd still be able to see and hear everything that happened inside of the room.

Rachel shook her hair that was held back by a pink headband, reaching back to free the strands that had gotten caught in her silver Star of David necklace, a sign of something she shared with Noah Puckerman. A pink cardigan covered her white crop top, revealing her dangling black music note belly button ring before her denim mini skirt began. Pink sparkly ankle boots with a high heel added height to her short stature and pink accessories completed her appearance for the day.

She had gotten many compliments from the male population on her appearance that day, but she didn't care about those compliments. She just wanted the hazel eyes that belonged to a mohawked Jewish boy to settle on her just a little bit longer than they did on the blonde haired girl. And she wanted to not feel guilty when she got the first desire to become a reality.

Of course, she knew that she would never feel anything but guilty when it came to Noah Puckerman, at least until the baby he was having with Quinn was no longer his responsibility and he was free of her suffocating grasp.

And there was no guarantee that he would still want her after that.

"Nope, this is not happening right now. We're going to be in a better mood, immediately, and if it means I have to sing a song from some stupid movie-made-musical, so be it," Santana declared, nodding towards the band who seemed to never leave the room. They seemed to understand her desire just from her tone of voice and an all too familiar beat started to play.

Standing in the front of the room with her long, glossy black hair falling down her back with a golden bow head wrap containing the thick mane, she was definitely one of the most beautiful girls at school, a fact that was only made more obvious by her form fitting, black and white stripped cut-out dress with black ankle booties with a sky-high heel. Her black purse sat on the floor by her abandoned chair, the black and gold wallet peaking out and her black and gold covered phone case vibrating inside of the bag. All golden jewelry only accented her plain, dull colored wardrobe, somehow brightening the whole ensemble.

"Can I help?" Brittany Pierce asked brightly, jumping to her feet and bouncing towards the nodding Latina.

Dressed in a pair of skin tight jeans that looked as though they were painted on her with a hot pink bandeau top peaking out from underneath a black baggy tank top that said something about unicorns, her color-blocked backpack left forgotten on her seat with her black phone case announcing something about unicorns peaking from the front pocket. Her pink sneakers add a good three inches to her already tall frame, making Rachel wonder if that was really fair.

A chubby unicorn necklace hung from around her neck with her pink bow and cupcake earrings dangling in a short manner form her ears. She looked like her usual, childish shelf and it brought a smile to Rachel's face to see her that way.

_"Honey whatcha cryin' at? You're not losing him to that/Both her hair and shoes are flat/And why is she rude?" _Santana sang out, rolling her eyes as she gestured towards the door where Quinn was yelling at Puck about something in a stage whisper, her voice overpowered by the music and Santana's strong vocals.

"_Wipe your tears, it's no big thing/You were meant to wear his ring/Cheer up, chin-up/It's time to bring," _Brittany sang out, reaching out and pulling Rachel to her feet.

"_A happy attitude!" _the two cheerleaders sang out together, bright smiles on their faces.

"_Keep it positive, as you slap her to the floor," _Brittany sang with a devious wink.

"_Keep it positive," _their voices blended together.

"_As you pull her hair and call her a whore/You can take her in a fight," _Santana made a fist, blowing on her nails as she smirked.

"_You and he will reunite," _Brittany joined in happily.

"_You know we're right," _The popular cheerleaders booty bumped their newfound friend from either side, pushing Rachel forward. "_Kill her!" _The girls giggle-sang as they turned on their heels and made a move towards Quinn.

"_Girls! Girls!" _Rachel sang out, giggling as she played along with their childish antics. "_What if she's a violent nut? She might stab me in the gut/With the stick that's up her butt/Who's got a plan B?" _Rachel wondered through song as the girls turned back around to face her, defeated looks on their faces.

"_Me! Look at her, she's like a nun/Show him you are way more fun/Bust out the lap dance and you won/You're off the hizzle, gee!" _Santana said brightly, striking a seductive pose at the end.

"_What?" _Rachel wondered.

"_Keep it positive!" _The cheerleaders sang together, dancing around the room seductively.

"_Yeah! Let out your inner freak!" _Brittany sang out, twerking in her spot. _  
_

"_Keep it positive" _The girls sang together as they grinded against one another, back to back.

"_Miss prissy pants won't last a week," _Santana gas-pedaled towards Rachel.

"_You will wet his appetite," _Santana reached out and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"_You and he will reunite," _Brittany spun Rachel around.

"_You know we're right! We're positive-we're positive-we're positive-we're posi-"_

_"_Oh my god, you're making me sick!" Rachel burst out, holding a hand up to stop her friends from forcing her into their MTV-worthy dance routine that she couldn't believe she was suddenly apart of. _  
_

At those words, Quinn turned around, a devious smirk on her face as she raised her eyebrow, suddenly aware of the scene behind her.

"Are we? Puck, let's take this somewhere private,_" _She winked suggestively.

"_Hey-hey-hey-We're positive that he loves you and not her/You're hotter and I bet ya smarter/She don't know the real him/You feel him, so don't let her steal him/Wake him up like sleeping beauty/Turn his head with your red hot booty/You bring the noise if we bring the funk/It's positively time to shake your junk/Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake-WHOO" _Brittany and Santana resumed their dance routine that consisted of shaking their butts, shimmying to show off their cleavage and shashaying their hips.

And finally, Rachel caved in and joined them in on their dancing.

"Girls? how is this helping? He's not even here," Rachel asked as she stopped mid-spin, realizing that their two person audience was gone. "He left while we were shaking junk! Wait," She paused, taking on a thoughtful expression for a second before changing from her playful tone. _  
_

"_Girls I'm positive, that we've taken this too far/No, I'm positive this is High school not a stripper bar/All this trashy carrying on/That's the reason that he's gone/I need a salon," _Rachel held up her hands to stop them from cutting her off and showing the urgency.

"_Whoo!" _They lifted their fists in the air, sure that their favorite past time when it came to getting over a guy was one that they shared with their newest best friend.

"_Girls I'm-"  
_

_"Positive"_

_"Try not to get upset, but I'm-"_

_"Positive"_

_"That's time for me to be like Quinn," _Rachel finished.

"_What?" _The girls squealed in shock.

"_Being talented and hot/That got me exactly squat/Gotta show him I've got more options/No I'm positive (positive) I'm positive (positive) I'm positive (positive, positive) Positive," _Rachel finished the song, being joined by her friends for the final note.

"Please tell me that by being like Quinn, you mean joining the Cheerio's," Santana pleaded as soon as the song was over.

"Of course," Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm not cheating on my boyfriend with his best friend and getting knocked up at sixteen when I'm a sophomore in high school. Tenth grade is far too early to throw my life away," Rachel replied as she hooked her arms through her friends.

"Thank god, I was getting confused," Brittany told the girls as if it were a new occurrence.

Sharing a look, Santana and Rachel burst out laughing, being joined a second later by Brittany herself, who most likely didn't get the joke but just wanted to be a part of the fun with her friends. Rachel couldn't have asked for better friends if she'd tried.

* * *

Rachel Berry entered school on Tuesday morning in a pleated, short red and white cheerleading skirt. As she walked, the pleats flapped against her red, short, spandex boy shorts that stretched out across her perky ass, teasing the male population of the school with a hint of getting to see something a little more. Her tight, form fitting red and white shell to her uniform stretched out across her chest, arms left bare as this was the fall-spring version of the uniform.

In her black and red Nike cheerleading bag were her silver-white-red pompoms with her varsity jacket, as well as her black and silver Victoria's Secret back pack with her turquoise and black phone case that matched Santana's and Brittany's own phone cases tucked neatly inside. On her feet were white, dainty cheerleading sneakers. Her dark, glossy hair was pulled back into a sky high, pin straight ponytail and her silver, spiral belly button ring could just barely be seen peaking out from beneath her top, that left a thin strip of skin revealed between the bottom of that and the top of her skirt.

To her left was a long legged Latina with tanned, muscular legs that pulled the attention of every male, right before they turned their attention back to the shocking sight of Rachel in a cheerleading uniform.

And to the right of Rachel was Brittany Pierce, yapping on about something that neither girl was really all that interested in. The classically beautiful girl was being her usual, quirky self and causing the other two girls to burst out laughing, pulling the attention of every single person who wasn't already looking on at them in shock.

After all, they were just getting used to the fact that Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce were not only in the Glee Club, but now best friends with Rachel Berry. They had finally adjusted to the fact that the Queen of the Gleeks was slowly rising to the top and taking the place of the impregnated, ex-head cheerleader that was Quinn Fabray.

And now?

Now they had to add on the fact that Rachel Berry was a cheerleader.

* * *

"Since when are you a cheerleader?"

Rachel glanced up from the sheet music she was looking over in the choir room to find Noah Puckerman glaring down at her with a scowl etched across his face. She rolled her eyes, looking back down at the music with a sly smile on her face. The fact of the matter was that she loved the fact that this seemed to be bothering Puck.

"I wasn't aware that it was any of your business, actually," She said softly, turning to the next page of her sheet music book. "But if you _must _know, I became a cheerleader yesterday due to finally caving under the peer pressure from Santana and Brittany who seem to think that the final step of my make-over was me becoming a cheerleader to gain some popularity of my own rather than just borrowing from Santana and Brittany's own hefty supply." She said, lifting her eyes up to spare him a glance without lifting her face from her music. He didn't need to know the joy this was bringing her.

"Why do you need to be popular? I thought you were better than one of those people who thought they needed popularity to get through high school. Where is this coming from?" Puck asked.

Rachel heard a soft creak and she was well aware of him sitting down in the chair besides her. Still, she didn't spare him another glance. That would only give him the satisfaction of seeing her amused, gleeful smile. That would let him know that she enjoyed seeing him hurt from her newfound wardrobe choices, and the fact that she was now becoming popular enough to earn the attention of other members of the male population, even if none of them interested her.

It wasn't that Rachel felt as though she needed to be popular, but she had this desire to show him that she wasn't going to sit around and remain exactly the same as she waited for him. He had slept with Quinn while Quinn was dating Finn, his supposed best friend. Now, Quinn was pregnant with his child. He'd made his decision, even if he hadn't realized it at the time.

Besides, no matter what feelings Rachel had for Puck or what feelings he claimed to have for her, he had still slept with Quinn while apparently being interested in Rachel. That just showed that he was a fickle type of male. And if he wasn't actually interested in Quinn, it showed that all he really cared about was his own popularity. After all, why else would he want to hook up with the popular, head cheerleader who just so happened to be dating his best friend?

It only made sense that he wanted to be the one going around, telling everybody that he had been the one to deflower the Celibacy queen that was the flawless, perfectly blonde head cheerleader named Quinn Fabray.

Rachel was only doing all that she was doing to stop getting a daily slushy facial. She didn't want to end up as a loser without a single positive thing to remember when she thought back on high school. And it wasn't as though she were changing who she was. All she was doing was wearing something different than what her previous style had been, and it was just a more modern and fashionable take on matters. And now she had started to play a sport, regardless of what it was.

She hadn't suddenly started skipping classes. She wasn't doing drugs or attending parties until two in the morning. She wasn't drinking uncontrollably or at all, really. She hadn't become a slut and she wasn't a raging bitch. She was the same old Rachel, with two new friends instead of only Mike Chang, and she was a cheerleader with a sense of fashion. But she was still Queen of the Gleeks with the voice of an angel and a passion for Broadway, where she knew she would end up one day.

"This isn't you, Rachel," He said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "You're better than all of this. I just wish that you could see that. The only reason anybody says anything negative towards you is because they know that you're already so far ahead of them. You're better than they are, and they know it. That's why they try to make you feel small, so they can build themselves up. I just wish you'd open your eyes and realize that. The more and more like Santana and Brittany you become, the less they have to be jealous of. Don't start to conform to fit in here. You're too good for Lima," He stood up and walked out of the room.

* * *

"Stop it."

Santana Lopez raised her eyes as she slammed her locker shut, twirling around so that her back was leaning against the metal, crossing her arms across her chest as she gave him a cold, condescending once over with an arrogant smirk etched across her plump lips. Standing in front of her was Noah Puckerman, arms crossed over his broad chest as he glared down at her with an angry, bitter scowl on his face. His developed, defined muscles pulsed beneath his letterman jacket.

"Stop _what?" _Santana asked in a teasing, mocking tone of voice.

Of course she knew exactly what he was talking about. She knew that he was angry at what was unfolding with Rachel. And she also knew that he had most definitely heard other people, particularly the males at the school, talking about the changes that had happened to one particular Rachel Berry.

And those comments had been some very dirty, inappropriate things that Santana was sure would make Puck punch out anybody and everybody who was heard saying them and then everybody who looked at her for a second too long.

"Cut the crap, Santana. You know exactly what I'm talking about right now and I'd appreciate you not being a bitch about it. I get that I dumped you for Rachel, but do you really have to do everything in your power to make sure she and I never get together? You're not being fair to me and you're not being fair to her. It's not cool to pretend to be her friend just so that you can get back at me for ending things and get back at her for being the girl that I honestly wanted to have a chance-"He was cut off by a low growl coming from Santana as she clenched her jaw, arms dropping to the side as her hands wound into tight fists.

"I'm not _pretending _to be friends with her! I actually happen to _like _Rachel, alright? She and I are friends and I'm only doing all of this because she wants me to help her try and get over _you _because you hurt her when you went and knocked up Quinn Fabray!" Santana snapped at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, hardening his glare.

"Do you honestly think that I'd have ever slept with Quinn if I'd ever thought I had a chance with Rachel? I only did that because I was drunk and I didn't know what I was supposed to do when she can come on to me, okay? Can you stop making me feel like a complete and total dick about every single mistake that I've ever made in my life?" He growled at her.

She narrowed her eyes into even smaller slits than his had become, taking a step closer to him as she rose up on her tiptoes to try and make better eye contact with him, getting as close to him as possible with their faces close enough that she could feel his breath on her own and he could most likely feel her breath on his own face. She let him take in just how angry she was with him for what he was saying and how he was acting before she dropped to her feet again and started to speak in anger, her voice and tone low and bitter.

"Stay away from Berry, understand? She's a good girl and she really likes you. But she's not going to get hurt by you. You can't change, Puckerman. You've never once proven to anybody that you're capable of changing who you are. So stop trying to get with her, because it's not going to happen until you can prove to me that you're willing to change and that you're capable of changing, understand? As long as I'm her friend, you are not going to stand a chance with her because I won't let her get hurt the same way she did when she found out you knocked up Quinn Fabray when she finally started to believe she meant something to you," Santana said, twirling on her heel.

Her ponytail slapped him in the face as she did so, the pleats of her cheerleading skirt swinging as she moved and slapping against her upper thighs before they started to sway with each and every step that she made as she walked away from him, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

"FUCK!" He screamed, slamming his fist into the locker besides Santana's. "Fuck!" He repeated, slamming in one more punch before he stormed down the hallway in the opposite direction of where Santana had been.

* * *

"She's a slave driver!" Rachel complained as she exited the locker room with Santana and Brittany after her first cheerleading practice. "I don't think I've ever worked that hard in my entire life!" She said in shock as she reached up, tightening her high ponytail so that her hair tugged at her roots.

"And then you wonder why we're all a bunch of bitches?" Santana giggled, adjusting the strap of her cheerleading bag as she made her way towards the exit of the school. "She works all of the happiness and joy out of us," She teased.

"Soon, you're going to be as bad as Quinn," Brittany said sadly, adjusting her white and red CHEERIO'S wife beater so that it covered up the red and black belly button ring that she'd been illegally wearing to practice, before she rolled the waistband of her red short shorts with the white print that read CHEERIO'S on the butt in a girly, cursive-y print, so that they covered even less of her long, mostly bare pale legs to broadcast her bold, defined muscles.

"As if!" Santana rolled her eyes. "Quinn never had a sweet bone in her body. Rachel might be the one to stand a chance of remaining kind and pure," she pushed open the door to the school and walked out into the bright sunlight of the warm fall evening.

Rachel and Brittany followed her outside, breaking out into a sprint as they raced towards Santana's car after sharing a smile. Brittany and Santana were always racing for who would be getting the shot gun seat of the convertible.

"You two are such losers," Santana rolled her eyes as she approached the vehicle a few moments after the other two, only to find Rachel leaning against the door as she tried to catch her breath, Brittany doing the same as she pouted, sitting on the trunk of the car with her chin in her hands, frown already in place.

"You shouldn't call your friends losers, San," Rachel replied, pushing away from the car as Santana unlocked it, climbing inside. "You never know when you're going to get knocked up and need to rely on them to catch you as you fall from grace. Who knows what would have happened if Quinn had actually been a _good _friend," Rachel giggled as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Can you respect the car, please?" Santana whined as she started the car.

"Brittany was on the trunk!" Rachel protested.

"Brittany is special. She still believes in Santa," Santana confided as she leaned across her seat to whisper the end of her statement into Rachel's ear. "Anyways, you're right about the whole Quinn thing," She raised her volume back to normal as she moved away from Rachel's ear, starting to back out of her parking spot.

"I think that we need to have a party for Rachel," Brittany spoke up.

"A party?"

"Britt, my birthday isn't for another month," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"A party to celebrate your popularity. What if we had one after the next football game? San, your parents are out of town. Wouldn't it be an amazing coming out party for Rachel?" Brittany asked innocently, eyes sparkling in excitement due to her idea.

"Oh, what the hell?" Santana relented.

"I guess," Rachel said nervously.

After all, Rachel was new to the entire popularity thing. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react, and as confident as she was when it came to her talent, when it came to being the center of attention for something as vain as popularity, she wasn't so sure she was ready for it. After all, she was still certain that most of her popularity was coming from her friendships with Santana, Brittany and Mike. She didn't think that her make-over or her cheerleading position were doing all that much to make her popular on her own.

She didn't think she was ready to find out just how true those thoughts were just yet either. She was more than a little nervous about the outcome if her friends were wrong about just how popular she was on her own.


End file.
